The Descendant: Echoes of the Revanchist
by darthmaul90
Summary: The Old Republic is gone; the last vestiges of it swept away and replaced by Palpatine's Galactic Empire. But as the heroic Rebel Alliance wages their war of independence against Palaptine's machine, the descendant of Revan stands poised to launch his own war against the Empire. Will he be persuaded to join the Rebellion, or will he make his own path amongst the battlefields?
1. The Descendant: Chapter 1

**The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 1**

_The Inner Rim Region, Planet Zeltros_

_4.5 months after the Battle of Yavin_

The incessant hum of the sublight engines reverberated throughout the ship, annoying the ship's pilot to no end. He made a mental note to completely go over the ship's engines and locate the problem at their next port of call. They seemed to be slightly out of balance. Not too big a problem, but it would a great pain to fix. Still, if it wasn't done soon it would progressively get worse until it potentially became a danger to the ship.

He wasn't terribly concerned about the expense… he had more money than he'd ever be able to spend in his life, even if he lived well over a century. But these were dangerous times for a man like him and as such, he was constantly on the move. He hoped the repairs wouldn't take long.

He pressed some buttons on the ship's control panel which brought the ship to a hover, then rose from his chair. Walking back through the cockpit door, he thought about his reason for coming to this world. It was not his first trip to Zeltros, but all other times he'd been here it was for recreation. This was the first time he'd ever been here in a "business" capacity.

Of all the places for two sector Moffs to have a secret meeting, why did it have to be here on a world inhabited by people renowned for their dedication to the pursuit of pleasure, thrills, sexual gratification and general hedonism? Yet it made some sort of bizarre sense to him. After all, who would believe that an Imperial delegation would come to such a world for a secret conference?

Well, the Rebel Alliance did for one. As soon as they'd gotten wind of this meeting, they'd contacted him and his associates and tasked them with a mission… find out what the hell the secret meeting was about. Unlike previous trips to this planet, he suddenly found that Zeltros was overwhelming his senses. All the drinking, dancing, playing of games and Force-knew what else… a planet-wide party was in full swing again. This was the fourth one in less than three weeks. The telekinetic noise from the endless revelries rang in his ears, but he was able to effectively shut it out. He didn't want to even guess at the size of the headache he would be suffering from if he hadn't been able to do so.

He could only laugh. Last time he'd been here, he and his friends had been able to partake in some of the action at a local casino. During one less than memorable moment, he had been walking past a sabacc table when a Twi'lek had suddenly won the jackpot. A loud chorus of cheers erupted and a drink was accidentally hurled through the air just missing his head. As a result, he'd stumbled several steps backwards towards another gambling table and caught himself on it.

Only he hadn't caught himself on a gambling table. It was much softer and warmer than the metal he'd expected. With growing embarrassment, he'd turned to find his hands clamped down firmly on the rear end of an exquisitely beautiful Zeltron woman. He remembered the big smile on her face when they made eye contact and she'd seductively wiggled her rear end and twitched her eyebrows.

That incident alone had earned him nine sexual encounter offers, three marriage proposals and a never ending list of jabs and ribs from his friends. And every day thereafter, that woman had left an exorbitant number of messages at his hotel for him… none of which he'd ever answered.

Walking down the long central corridor, past the staterooms, infirmary and galley, he increased his pace. His movements were fluid and graceful, the only sound coming from the rustling of the dark charcoal gray highwayman's coat he wore. The vest he wore underneath appeared to be an ordinary smuggler's vest made from the hide of any one of thousands of animals in the galaxy. Yet like many other things regarding people of his kind these days, looks were deceiving. Carefully woven into the vest was a series of Mandalorian Assault Armor plates. Made from the highly sought after Mandalorian steel, it was among the best form of energy protection in the galaxy. The lining inside was composed of a Mark V Armor Ply alloy which allowed for greater freedom of movement and kept the plates of Mandalorian armor from making too much noise as he moved. His tank top shirt under all that contained an experimental Bacta Weave Underlay that would heal minor wounds in minutes. Finally, the lining of his great coat contained a Mark V Sonic Dampening Weave that was useful against sonic and other weapons designed to disable, but not kill. His long, jet black hair flowed freely from his head and the collar of his coat was drawn up, yet it could not cover the lower portion of his clean shaven face which revealed a strong jaw line. Even through the armor, the muscular form of his body was evident. The leather belt around his waist carried several small pouches and only a practiced eye would've been able to detect the long, cylindrical shape under his coat.

His tall, muscular frame radiated power and grace and it was plain to see in his walk and his intense blue eyes. He turned from the corridor into Cargo Hold 2 and his gaze fell upon one of two individuals he had been seeking… a slender and striking woman only a couple inches shorter than himself. She stood calmly with her back to one wall, arms folded across her midriff, just barely concealing an elegantly designed pattern of interlaced lines, swishes and angles. Her hair was long, full and slightly wavy, extending just beyond her shoulders and long bangs. Like the man's, it was jet-black in color and her skin tone was a deep, deep red. So red that at a cursory glance, she could easily pass for a native Zeltron. Her sensuous lips, an even darker hue of red than her skin, curled into a pleasant smile as the man approached her, even though she hadn't turned to look at him. For a second, he paused to appreciate her strong physique as well as just how stunningly beautiful she was.

To those who gave the woman a more thorough look, she was usually thought to be a hybrid of human and some other of countless species that humans were capable of interbreeding with in the galaxy. Most assumed she was a bizarre mix of human and Lethan Twi'lek ancestries and the woman did little to dissuade that notion in others who knew her only superficially, often claiming she had no idea what combination of species she was. Still, they were not able to explain certain features about her including the faint outlines of numerous bone spurs under her skin around her eyebrows, breast bone and spine. And her eyes, though soft and gentle, had an undeniable intensity about them that seemed to lie just under their golden yellow irises. These traits unmistakably betrayed the woman's true heritage.

Sith.

Not a member of the Sith Order, but rather a member of the long-thought extinct Sith race. She wasn't a pureblood Sith, but came about as close as one could in this day and age for a member of her species. Unlike true pureblood Sith members, she had no cheek tendrils, no cranial horns or pointed teeth and no cartilaginous eyebrow stalks over her eyes. She had ten fingers and ten toes where true pureblood Sith had only six of each and she was right-handed where the overwhelming majority of pureblood Sith had a genetic disposition to being left-handed. She claimed to be part human and offered this explanation as the reason for her being slightly different biologically from absolute pureblood Sith, though she refused to provide any additional explanation or proof.

Her home world was a mystery to everyone who knew the truth about her biological heritage, including the man who just entered the cargo hold. It was something she didn't like talking about and her close friends were happy to let her keep that part of her life private. After all, she was a Sith and considering the millennia upon millennia of bad reputation the Sith species and Sith order had gathered, keeping the fact secret that at least a small sect of the ancient species still survived somewhere was to be expected… even if they had no affiliation with the Sith order or the dark side of the Force as was often claimed by the woman.

The utility vest she wore was small, black in color and just covered her breasts, leaving much of her midriff and upper chest exposed. Like the man's vest however, the woman's concealed some armored surprises including a set of specially crafted Mark V Armor Ply that fit her anatomy like a glove and the same type of experimental Bacta Weave Armor that the man wore. Her wrists and lower legs were protected by a set of cortosis lined gauntlets that prevented any kind of avulsion of her limbs and a Mark V Environmental Underlay was woven into her dark gray slacks which protected her from extreme heat and cold. Anyone could clearly see the lightsaber that hung at her side. Since the Empire had yet to take control of Zeltros… and it didn't appear that they would anytime soon… one didn't have to be as careful about restricted or illegal weapons as they did elsewhere.

Though she was donning a parachute when the man entered, she had sensed his approach and now, turned towards him with a bright smile on her face. "Is it time Dahlgen?"

Dahlgen nodded. "Nearly Dawna. You all set?"

"Just about," the Sith woman answered. She turned her back to him and pointed to her parachute. "Check me please?"

As Dahlgen completed a safety inspection of her parachute, the second person he had been seeking entered. This one was a young teenaged male and although his hair and eyes were of a lighter brown shade and his face was a little bit rounder, the resemblance between him and Dahlgen was nevertheless, striking. "We're in position now."

"All right," Dahlgen replied. "Is the receiver set up?"

"Just finished it dad," the teenager replied. "We're ready to go."

"Good." Dahlgen gave the Sith woman a pat on the shoulder. "Okay Dawna, you're all set." Dahlgen turned back to his son. "As soon as we're out Marsala, you get yourself to the next waypoint and prepare for data transmission. And be ready to extract us at a moment's notice."

"I will dad."

Dahlgen embraced his son, regarding him with love and admiration. "I'm proud of you son. Force be with you."

"Force be with you too dad," Marsala replied. Next, Marsala embraced Dawna. "Force be with you Dawna."

"And the Force be with you Marsala."

_Mobquet Swoop Bulding – Exterior Guard House_

Standing at his duty post in the guard house, trooper TK8873 looked out over the seemingly endless sea of neon lights, blaring music and revelers of all species that maneuvered through the streets. Not that he could see much. In an effort to keep the Empire's presence on Zeltros hidden, he was manning the guard shack wearing civilian clothes instead of his standard issue uniform. He did his best to avoid the gazes of the various Zeltron women that occasionally walked by, but that wasn't always possible either. Three times in the last ninety minutes he'd endured being smooched by a group of females… a different group each time… that had happened to walk past the guard house. It was embarrassing, considering that he was supposed to be on duty yet he longed to be enjoying the planet wide party that was going on around him. How many was this now since he'd first arrived on Zeltros? Nine… twelve… seventeen… he lost count some time ago. Oh well, there were worse fates.

This wasn't exactly the type of duty he'd signed up for when he'd enlisted in the Stormtrooper Corps two years ago. He'd turned his back on his entire family when he'd enlisted and they'd more or less disowned him as a result. But he'd wanted to prove them wrong; show them all the rightness of his decision. He'd wanted to show them that Empire was not the oppressive, dictatorial body the Rebel Alliance claimed it was. He'd wanted to show his family that the Empire was not made up of a bunch of bloodthirsty murderers simply looking for their next victims. Yet now, nothing seemed further from the truth and his arguments rung hollow in his mind.

And the Empire didn't particularly look upon him favorably either for some reason. He'd been stationed at this remote outpost now for the past year or so and he still didn't understand why. Though he hadn't graduated at the absolute top of his class, he had still graduated in the top 5% and been one of the few selected to undergo the rigorous AT-AT operations course… a course he'd passed with flying colors.

Yet for some reason the Empire had made him a standard stormtrooper anyway and he'd spent the first year of his enlistment pounding a patrol beat on a Star Destroyer somewhere in the Outer Rim before being sent to this ridiculous assignment on Zeltros. You couldn't even really call where he was an outpost because truth be told, it wasn't. It certainly wasn't anything like what the Empire had said it was going to be immediately before he was transferred. Still, it was the only piece of Imperial owned and controlled property on the entire planet. Once he had arrived, he'd really stated asking questions about the Empire's competency. His commander was, at best, a boorish lout. At worst he was a bona fide idiot. Several times TK8873 had gone to his commander with ideas on how to improve security and operations around the facility. And every time, he'd been subjected to a yelling "lecture" about how he was just a lowly trooper and that the officers would do all the thinking and coming up with ideas. He was there to do his job and keep his mouth shut. If he wanted to talk, he could do it on weekend liberty.

Weekend liberty? What the hell was that? His superior always seemed to find some reason to confine TK8873 to barracks for the weekend so he'd only been outside this installation three times in the past six months. And the last time he'd opened his mouth about security he'd been busted back a rank for it as a "reminder as to who's in charge and who's not around here." He didn't think he was going to get that rank back anytime soon… not as long as his commander was "in charge" anyway. TK8873 was frustrated… frustrated that it seemed no matter what he did, he was never going to accomplish his dreams. Still, there was one good thing about this place… trooper TK5309.

TK5309 was a rarity among the Stormtrooper Corps in that TK5309 was a woman… and a non-human woman at that. She was one of the few women TK8873 knew that had been allowed to serve in the Corps and the only non-human he'd ever seen of either gender in the Corps. TK5309 was what was known as an Arkanian Offshoot… a subspecies of the Arkanian race specially bred by Arkanian scientists and geneticists to excel at specific industrial tasks such as mechanical or technical work. Unlike baseline Arkanians, the Offshoots generally lived shorter lives, had five fingered hands, alabaster skin and human-like eyes. Some were even specially bred to have pointed ears, as TK5309 was. About the only thing Offshoots had in common physically with baseline Arkanians was their white hair.

She'd arrived on Zeltros only a two months ago with the same look that he had… wide-eyed wonder dashed straight to hell. And the commander had been particularly brutal to her, placing her on every crappy detail he could find and even inventing a few just so to spite her. It wasn't fair. TK5309 had scored higher than anyone else in the facility on the physical and mental aptitude tests and had placed second behind TK8873 in the marksmanship test. She'd even surprised everyone by achieving a very high score on an engineering and mechanics exam.

TK8873 was the only one who didn't slight TK5309 because she was female and non-human. That was something that did not make him popular among the other troopers. TK8873 didn't care. In the few months they'd been working together, he and TK5309 had become close friends. In fact, they were the only friends each other had. And he'd been increasingly thinking about taking her into his confidence regarding his misgivings about the Empire. That could prove dangerous however. For all he knew, she could be totally devoted to the Empire and its policies and turn him in to the authorities at the slightest thought of anti-Empire leanings. Still, something about her told him that wasn't the case.

She was with him now in the guard shack. She looked so peaceful, vulnerable as she lay sleeping in a corner. Poor girl had pulled a triple shift… another of their commander's insane attempts to "show her who was boss." It was actually fortunate for her that TK8873 had been posted to the same tower that night. If she'd been posted with anyone else, she would've had to have remained awake. Yet their commander's idiocy on "keeping those two malcontents together" had actually provided her with the opportunity to get some much needed rest. Before she'd finally collapsed an hour ago, TK8873 had promised her that he would only wake her if someone called specifically for her or their shift was over.

Looking back out over the jungle of neon lights and excessive partying, TK8873 was disturbed to see that the lights seemed to have gotten brighter and the noise louder. It was going to be a long night.

Not two hundred meters away amidst the leafy canopies of a darkened nearby park, Dijas Kintaro quietly observed trooper TK8873 through the scope of his high-powered sniper rifle. He could've taken him out easily from this distance but Dahlgen Luzard had ordered him not to engage the guard house unless absolutely necessary. And somehow, Kintaro felt it was going to be necessary on this night.

That was fine with him. A born and raised Mandalorian, he was looking forward to seeing a little action in the near future. Other than constant training, it was the best way to ensure one's skills remained sharp. Some would even argue that combat was better than training. Maybe that was true, but at least training didn't come with the stress of combat.

His dark green and gray Mandalorian armor was accented with brown and it kept him perfectly concealed amidst the tree limbs. In Mandalorian society, the colors of a warrior's armor typically said nothing more than he or she liked that particular combination. But sometimes the colors had special meaning. And Dijas kept this tradition true with green signifying his duty and gray for mourning a lost love. Who or what the lost love was though, was something very few people knew about.

Dijas quit reminiscing to himself and observed TK8873 again. The wind played with the trooper's blond hair that was cut in a flat top style and he did not even try to stifle a yawn. He looked bored and thoroughly displeased with his job that night. Who could blame him? Zeltros was a world for partying and relaxing. Not stuffed shirt Imperials trying to spread their rigid and useless rhetoric.

Fifth night here and all was pretty much the same as it had been the previous four nights, except for one thing… tonight they were actually penetrating the target building. It was a mission that had been hastily cobbled together, but then Force Revanchist was used to doing missions on the fly. That wasn't the only thing that was different about tonight and he thought he'd better let the others know. He keyed the transmitter in his helmet. "Long range to command."

High above the outpost in the light freighter known as the Silver Horizon, Force Revanchist leader Dahlgen Luzard had donned his own parachute and was being checked over by Dawna when the call came in. "How we lookin' down there Dijas?"

"Pretty much the same as last night, although there is one thing," Dijas reported.

Dijas's words had Dahlgen interested. "What? What's the problem?"

"Guard house has only one occupant tonight," Dijas said. "It's had two the past four nights."

The news concerned Dahlgen. "Stay on it. There may be a roving patrol out there and we don't want to have to scrub this mission before it begins."

"I'm on it," Dijas assured him. "Good luck you two. Long range out."

"You're good." Dawna completed her inspection of Dahlgen's gear. But instead of patting him on the arm like he'd done to her, she gave him a pat on the backside. Dahlgen was used to it though and ignored it.

Moving forward, Dahlgen activated a control panel and the exterior access door to Cargo Hold 2 opened. Far beneath them, the bright lights of Zeltros's capital city put on a dazzling display of colors and patterns. "Ready?"

Dawna nodded. "Mm hm."

Dahlgen keyed the ship's internal comm. "Son, want to give us a countdown?"

"You got it. Five… four… three… two… one… jumpers away!"

Dahlgen leaped out the open access door and into thin air with Dawna following him seconds later. As instructed, Marsala immediately set the ship on a course away from the scene. With the only sound being that of the wind whipping at their faces, Dahlgen and Dawna descended through the atmosphere.

_Near the Power Generator Room_

Trooper Lieutenant TK8275 stopped briefly and looked down the corridor to his right. That led to the main reactor room. Only authorized personnel were allowed there and unless there was a problem, he was not one of them. He grunted silently. TK8873's suggestion that they be allowed patrol access to that area actually made sense. But it was not their place to question the whims of those above them in rank. And TK8275 hadn't spent nearly a decade clawing his way up to his current rank to lose it. No way was some young upstart was going to outshine him.

He laughed to himself when he remembered how shocked TK8873 had been when he learned he was getting demoted for "insubordination." He'd even sneered at him to "take it like a man. You're a stormtrooper in the finest fighting unit the galaxy has ever seen." He was confident that TK8873 would no longer be a problem when he finally learned to keep his opinions to himself. Whether that was now or later remained to be seen though.

But then there was that new alien-girl, TK5309. How the hell she had ever gotten accepted into the Stormtrooper Corps was beyond him. TK8275 figured she must be the daughter of some high level bureaucrat somewhere who used his influence to get her posted to the Corps. And then TK8275 couldn't figure out for the life of him why he'd had the misfortune of having her assigned to his unit. Oh well, she was on guard duty right now and out of his hair. Tomorrow he thought he'd assign her to clean up the waste disposal system. That would keep her occupied for a while.

Correction, that would keep _them_ occupied for a while. He was going to assign TK8873 to the same detail. Those two malcontents had grown quite close to each other over the last few weeks. So TK8275 wanted to see just how close they would be to one another after spending nine hours in the sewers together.

TK8275 turned to his left and headed for the turbo lift that would take him up to level four, the main security level. A thought flashed through his mind and he laughed deviously. "Just let me catch those two in bed together," he muttered. "They'll wish all I'd done was bust them back to recruits."

As he boarded the lift, he never saw the Mandalorian in black and dark green armor, nor the bizarre looking astromech droid that was with him, slip quietly out of the community refresher and move towards the computer locked blast door that led down to the power generator room. "All right there Chips," the Mandalorian said as he pulled an electronic device from a shoulder bag and attached it to the locking mechanism. "Use that fancy, schmancy sensor of yours and see if anyone is coming this way."

"I'm on it," the droid spoke Basic in a heavily accented electronic tone. Obediently, the droid extended a sensor probe out of the top of his dome shaped head which had an additional curious looking cone shaped structure on top. He began a detailed scan of the ground floor. From beyond the locked door one could hear the incessant noise of the generators so it made obtaining the readings difficult. Still the only person that seemed to be on this level at that moment was the Day Officer and he was sitting at the front desk on the other side of the building. No one else appeared to be coming in their direction. "Nothing nearby or approaching," the droid reported his findings to the Mandalorian.

"Keep scanning there Chips," the Mandalorian said as his fingers moved deftly over the electronic device. "I don't want anyone surprising us down here. Hope Cronus's little contraption here does its job." The Mandalorian had to laugh as the device blinked, flashed and occasionally beeped. Security around this place was as they had figured, a joke. There hadn't been anywhere near the number of sensors one normally expected in an Imperial facility… such as it was… and the ones that were present were easily avoided. Actual full time security guards numbered less than a dozen and the number of stormtroopers currently present was also laughable. Normally, they might expect to find an entire company of troops guarding a top-secret meeting in a place like this. But after all their preliminary investigations, it seemed like only a platoon was stationed here for this conference.

Four other recons of this building over the past week had all but confirmed those suspicions. Every night for the last five nights including this one, Force Revanchist had observed the goings-on in the building from a distance. This was the first night they'd actually infiltrated the building because tonight was the whole reason they were here in the first place. And, Force-willing, it would be the last.

The device the Mandalorian had placed on the locking mechanism suddenly beeped and displayed four numbers. With a sly grin and a "simple" to no one in particular, he removed the device and punched the code into the door lock, ushering the astromech droid through as it opened. He was mildly annoyed. He preferred a straight fight to all this sneaking around. But Dahlgen was the boss and Dannix Krell was always willing to do what the boss wanted, especially if it caused problems for the Empire. And he had a feeling that there would be plenty of shooting before the night was over anyway.

Unlike the brightness of the hallway, the hallway leading to the power generator room, as well as the room itself, had an overall dismal atmosphere with its dim lighting and the incessant roar of the generators. With his heavy blaster held at the ready, Dannix slowly made his way around the room, checking for potential threats. He really didn't expect to find anyone here since the generators were working fine at the moment, but one could never be too careful.

Dannix was relieved to find no else in the generator room. He may have been Mandalorian, but he wasn't an idiot. One stray blaster shot in here could make the whole facility go sky high. That didn't really appeal to Dannix's sense of self-preservation and preservation of his comrades. Not yet anyway. He holstered his weapon and searched through his shoulder bag again and found what he was looking for… a Dannix Krell custom-made thorium charge. The perfect thing for taking down entire power grids.

A quick scan of the room and Dannix located the junction box where the power coming from the generator was distributed to all parts of the facility. Every installation and building the Imperials built was constructed in nearly the same fashion, right down to the wiring used to power it. There was little room for deviation except when it was absolutely necessary. Fortunately, this was not one of those times. One destroyed transfer box and the entire outpost would be dark for hours. Maybe even days considering where this outpost was.

Dannix shook his head when he discovered that whoever had last accessed the transfer box had carelessly left it unlocked. Although he half suspected some kind of a trap, he had no idea what it could be. Dannix slowly opened the door and peered inside but nothing got his attention. It was almost too easy to plant the charge.

Then he dropped it.

"Osik!"… Mando'a meaning crap… the man yelled. He quickly looked around as if half expecting someone to have heard his outburst amidst all the racket. Dannix looked down at the Basic-speaking astromech droid.

"Watch it clumsy," the droid rebuked. "We don't want to blow ourselves up!"

"Ahhh pipe down Chips and use that fancy sensor of yours to see if we're still alone down here." The droid obediently did as he was instructed but the noise from the generators made readings in here even more difficult than they were in the hallway. Still, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary for the moment.

"We're clear," the droid replied.

Had someone come to investigate Dannix's sudden outburst, it was unlikely they would've discovered him anyway. With his traditional Mandalorian armor colored black and dark green with gold accents, he was all but invisible in the darkened sublevel, despite the soft orange glow that was emanating from a nearby warning light. That, coupled with the upgrades in his helmet gave him plenty of light to see and complete his task. Like Dijas, every one of the colors of Dannix's armor followed the ancient tenet of having some hidden meaning: black was for justice, green for duty and gold was for vengeance. Also like Dijas, Dannix's reasons for selecting these colors of armor was something very few people were aware of.

Dannix finally got the small explosive device he was trying to plant seated in the proper position. The Imperials were so predictable. That was why he believed in his heart of hearts that the Rebel Alliance would eventually win this blasted Galactic Civil War. The Alliance had creativity and ingenuity behind its tactics and battle plans and they had the sense to modify those plans when something didn't quite according to those plans. Oh sure, the Empire had a few commanders with the same creativity and ingenuity. But in general, creativity, independent thinking and the ability to modify order when required was something the Empire was sorely lacking.

"There", he said with a nod. "That should do it. Hopefully we won't need it. Now we need to go take care of the guard at the desk and wait for Dahlgen's signal."

Off to Dannix's left, two more figures suddenly stepped from the shadows… a Weequay male and an ultra-rare Lethan red-skinned Twi'lek female. They surprised Dannix who immediately drew his blaster but checked fire when he saw who they were. Angrily, he looked down at the droid. "I thought you said no one was coming."

"No one was coming," the droid protested. "At least no one who was a threat."

"Just be thankful that they were friends Chips or we'd both be taking the final jump right now."

The pair approached and the Twi'lek woman spoke. "Be ready Dannix," her soft, calm voice spoke to the Mandalorian. "Dahlgen will be checking in with us any moment now."

"I'll be ready Katya," Dannix protested. "You guys just be sure you keep as many of the bucket heads busy as possible in case this whole thing goes straight down a black hole."

Stunningly attractive even by her own species' standards, Katya Saren had a set of lekku that extended to just above her rear end… very long by Twi'lek standards. Her face was youthful and innocent looking and while it was common for Twi'lek females to have tattoos on their bodies, especially on their lekku, Katya had decided long ago that no tattoos were necessary for her. Instead, she wore a dark gray head piece that wove its way around her head and down her lekku accompanied by a two-piece combat suit made of a specially woven material known only to members of her species. The way it hugged her body, it left her abdomen, arms and the center of her chest bare ensuring she could use her feminine assets when she had to, as Twi'lek women were renowned for doing. A utility belt complete with several pockets and pouches for storing small items completed the outfit and a curved handled lightsaber hung at her side.

A lightsaber made with this particular handle was usually held in the palm of one's hands as opposed to the fingertips as was typical with a straight hilt lightsaber. The use of a curved hilt allowed for more precise movements as well as near-perfect flexibility when engaged in lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat. The hilt's curvature also gave the wielder more power when delivering overhand strikes and would change the angle of the attacks by the merest fraction of a degree. It was usually just enough to confuse and disorient an unsuspecting opponent.

Wielders of the curved hilt lightsaber were almost always masters of the Form II, Makashi style of lightsaber combat. Also known as the Way of Ysalamiri and the Contention Form, it focused primarily on lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat. Since taking up the way of the Force a few years ago, her instruction under Dahlgen made Katya an exception to this. Though she was competent in Makashi, her primary style was a conglomeration of Djem So and Shien, the two variations of Form V, which made her primarily an offensive fighter. Unfortunately, one major side effect of wielding a curved-hilt lightsaber was that they were more difficult to use in blaster-bolt deflection. However, Dahlgen had also taught her how to incorporate some elements of Form III, Soresu and Form I, Shii-Cho into her style. And while she was not capable of fending off thirty or forty blaster bolts a second like a true Soresu master, she knew enough to hold out against a few blaster shots before she got into trouble.

At twenty-seven years of age, Katya Saren was born in the city of Nabat on the Twi'lek home world of Ryloth. As a young child, Katya had passed many a day playing with her best friend, Lupo, in the market places of the city. But her childhood innocence came to a rather abrupt end when was she was six, as the CIS invaded Ryloth and began those who had survived the initial onslaught against Nabat into captivity.

During the invasion, Katya and her parents managed to survive by hiding out in the tunnel system under Nabat which the Twi'lek's typically used as a shelter from dust and sand storms. Several others hid in the tunnel system with her to escape Separatist forces. Under the city, they feared, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.

But there was hope. Another Twi'lek girl named Numa brought the Republic's clone troopers and a Jedi Knight named Obi-Wan Kenobi into the tunnels and resuced them. Driven by Numa's courage, Katya and many other Twi'lek, were inspired to fight. Under heavy fire, she and her older brother Saan single-handedly destroyed a Separatist artillery gun that hastened their defeat on Ryloth.

Later, when the Empire replaced the Republic and declared the Jedi to be traitors, it came as quite a surprise to Katya. Due to General Kenobi's actions on Ryloth, Katya had come to view the Jedi with reverence and couldn't understand the Empire's new attitude towards them. As such, she began making preparations to leave Ryloth to seek out some answers as to why the status quo had shifted so suddenly.

That was not to be however, at least not how she first envisioned it. Because of the horrors wrought upon Ryloth due to the Clone Wars, Katya's father had made the difficult decision to sell her into slavery when she was only ten. He didn't particularly like the decision, but he felt it was the best chance that his only daughter had for survival in the new galaxy. Katya didn't particularly like the idea either, but she was well aware of her species acceptance of slavery as a way to preserve the species due to Ryloth's harsh environment. So she had grudgingly accepted her father's decision.

The person who purchased her turned out to be an old Republic admiral who had been forced into early retirement because of his rejection of the Empire's policies and doctrines. Though she was expected to work, the old admiral treated her with kindness and respect, even going so far as to teach her Galactic Basic and martial arts. As Katya matured, she took on the role of bodyguard to the admiral and traveled with him wherever he went.

All in all, Katya lived with the admiral for eleven years until a tragic trip through the Mid-Rim aboard the luxury star cruiser, _Chandrilian Star_. During the voyage, the liner was attacked and overrun by a band of ruthless pirates looking to make a name for themselves. Many of the passengers fought back including Katya and her admiral master. Tragically however, the admiral was killed and Katya was captured by the pirate gang. Even though the Space Rescue Corps mounted a successful assault to retake the liner, it came too late for Katya as she was spirited away by the gang and sold into slavery once more.

She found herself under the ownership of a monstrous Chagrian who did not treat her kindly at all. Regularly, either he or his entourage would ridicule, spit on, or otherwise humiliate her. Occasionally Katya was even beaten by one or more of them and the few times she'd tried to defend herself, she were stunned to incapacitation and then beaten further. For three years, Katya did all she could to survive and even contemplated suicide once or twice.

She had just about reached her breaking point when her faith in the Jedi was renewed by a chance meeting with Dahlgen Luzard and his friends on Nar Shaddaa.

Katya smiled. "In all the times you have accompanied Master Dahlgen, Dannix… when has a given situation not been sucked down a black hole?"

"Never! That's exactly me point missy!"

The Weequay male stepped forward and handed another small electronic device to Dannix. "Here… take this. It should even up the odds a bit if things get too hairy."

Dannix took the device and noted that it was much smaller than the device he'd just planted. "What the hell does this do, Cronus?"

"Two things," Cronus Xod replied. "Attach this to that terminal over there. It controls the generator's output and safety protocols. This little wonder is designed to sit quietly until a master code is transmitted to it. When it receives that code, it will disable the terminal's security protocols and force an ever increasing feedback loop through the generator, resulting in an overload of the entire system and a very, very nice explosion."

Cronus's explanation surprised Dannix. "Explode? And just how big of an explosion are we talking about here Cronus?"

"Enough to bring the whole building down to the foundation." Cronus replied as if he'd been stating a mundane fact about nerfs versus rancors, causing the normally unflappable Dannix to swallow hard.

Katya chuckled. "All the more reason for all of us to be on our guard." She turned to the elderly Weequay behind her. "Come Cronus. It's time we got into position."

Katya led Cronus up several flights of stairs, arriving at a closed door on the level that Dahlgen had pointed out to her earlier in the day when they'd gone over the buildings blueprints one last time. Stretching out with her senses, she detected no life signs within several meters of the door. With little to no chance of being caught by roving guard patrols, Katya quietly opened the door and motioned for Cronus to follow her. Hurrying down the hall, she led them to an unmarked utility closet where she and Dahlgen had agreed would be the best vantage point for the purposes of this little adventure.

About twenty meters ahead was the building's main security office. Given what was transpiring here tonight, it would be no doubt occupied by Imperial stormtroopers instead of the usual security guards that always appeared to be suffering from terminal boredom. If all went well, Katya and Cronus would disappear from whence they came and no one would be the wiser. If not… well they hoped for the moment that "if not" did not turn into "very likely."

Cronus Xod on the other hand was a believer in the powers of technology and generally shied away from the more esoteric beliefs of Force users. A slicer and hacker by trade, Cronus had spent nearly all his life designing all sorts of ways to break into supposedly the most impenetrable of secure computer systems. When that got boring, he'd begun designing electronic gadgets and gizmos to remotely bypass security systems or create other forms of trouble such as the device he'd just given to Dannix.

Growing up on the Weequay home world of Sriluur, Cronus was well-accustomed to the "low-technology" that was the norm for people of his race. But Cronus had always been good at fixing whatever needed fixing and many members of his clan Xod would bring him their weapons and gadgets whenever they broke. Even when he had been young Cronus had astounded the others in his clan with his repair skills and abilities.

When Cronus was only ten, a passing Hutt crime lord became so impressed with his skills, he offered the young Weequay a job… one the few jobs on the Hutt's payroll that actually paid well. It was while employed by this Hutt that Cronus first discovered the computer terminal and began a life-long fascination and sometimes obsession of exploring what he called "the art of computer science." With this discovery, he began a new career as a slicer and hacker. As a teenager, he'd hacked into a supposedly unhackable computer system belonging to a highly prestigious bank in the Outer Rim and credited his family's accounts with a substantial sum of credits. How he had avoided serious trouble with the law or attracting unwanted attention to his clan was not something he talked about except only to say that it was a narrow escape.

As the years passed, Cronus's skills and talents became almost legendary until he was considered one of the best hackers in Hutt Space. Then during the Clone Wars, Cronus found a more practical use for his talents at the Battle of Toydaria. Long a supporter of the Galactic Republic, his Hutt boss was helping to oversee the construction of a Republic military installation on the planet when the Separatists attacked in an effort to halt construction and get Toydaria to annul its backing of the Republic. Cronus hacked into literally tens of dozens of Separatist mainframes and databases, causing a considerable amount of confusion among the Separatist forces. Unfortunately, it was not enough to prevent the devastation of Toydaria and the thousands of deaths that resulted. Shaken by this, Cronus left the employ of his Hutt boss and took to wandering the galaxy.

A little less than a dozen years ago, Dahlgen Luzard… then barely out of his teens… had encountered Cronus on Adarlon in the Minos Cluster and hired him for a job. Upon its completion, Cronus had elected to remain with Dahlgen and Dannix, his only other companion at the time. Cronus had been with them ever since, making him one of the first members of Force Revanchist. It was a job he liked and the company wasn't that bad either… even if he did scowl at Marasla from time to time when the teen called him "grandpa."

At the age he was now however, Cronus was beginning to think about retirement. At sixty-seven standard years, he had just entered what was likely to be the twilight of his life. A deeply religious and a family man, Cronus had a wife, six children and fourteen grandchildren still living on Sriluur. He wasn't a stranger to them, but he only got to see them once every 8 to 10 weeks if he was lucky. And that was usually only for a few days at a time. His family had no idea what he did when he wasn't around, though a few of them suspected.

The elderly Weequay fingered the polished black stone pendant which hung around his neck… a symbol of his species' chief God, Quay. "How many troops do you think are out there," Cronus asked.

Katya had already reached into the Force in an attempt to answer that very question. Trying to sense the individual heart beats of each one was difficult with several of them standing in very close proximity to each other. She opened her eyes. "Can't be absolutely certain, but I'd say between twelve and sixteen."

Dahlgen's voice came over the comlink. "Command section, standing by."

"All right there Chips, plug in."

"My name is Artoo Gee Tee Two," the astromech complained angrily.

"I know what your bloody name is," Dannix grumbled. "And I know that most everyone else in this team calls you Gee Tee as some term of endearment. Be that as it may, you're still a collection of circuits, wires and chips to me. Hence the name "Chips" as far as I'm concerned."

"You really are what they term a pain in the ass, you know that?" Gee Tee grumbled.

Under his helmet, Dannix rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "Just plug in and watch your language."

With an exasperated "droidspeak" beep that could only be best described as a droid sigh, Gee Tee extended his interface probe and connected to the computer terminal. Within seconds, a vast array of information that made no sense to Dannix whatsoever flashed at incredible speed over the screen. "Take a look," Gee Tee encouraged.

"Good. Disable all of the motion detectors in the ventilation system."

Dannix hated being exposed like this but unfortunately the closest computer terminal where Gee Tee could carry out the next part of his mission was located on the ground floor at the front reception desk. Although he'd temporarily disabled the security cameras and motion sensors in the area with a portable scrambler, it wouldn't be long before they came back on line. And even if they didn't, the Imperials were sure to send someone to check the disturbance, not to mention why the now unconscious guard on duty hadn't checked-in in the past ten minutes. He didn't want to be caught in the open when the next patrol happened on the scene.

"Come on Chips," he muttered. "What in the hell is takin' you so long?"

"What are you so worried about?" Gee Tee complained. "You got somewhere else to be? A hot date that you just can't miss?"

"Everybody's a damned comedian," Dannix complained.

R2-GT2 had begun his existence forty-three standard years ago on Industrial Automaton's assembly line. With a red and white painted shell, Gee Tee was like every other R2 droid that had been churned out in that he was designed to be primarily a starship diagnostic and repair technician. It was a job the little droid excelled at. As with other astromech droids, Gee Tee could communicate in "droidspeak" and had an impressive sensor package. It was complete with a full-spectrum transceiver along with electromagnetic, heat, motion, and life form indicators. A fully maneuverable video sensor deployed from his domed head, allowing it to inspect enclosed spaces or peer over obstacles. Gee Tee's outer shell concealed an array of tools beneath his durasteel exterior including two manipulator arms, an electric arc welder, circular saw, computer scomp link arm, a holographic projector/recorder, an internal cargo compartment and a general-use fire extinguisher.

But all his standard equipment had not been enough for Gee Tee. Gee Tee had never been subjected to memory wipe and as a result, had developed a very strong personality and sense of individualism. This individualism had led Gee Tee to take the rare step of tinkering with, and adding numerous modifications to, himself. These modifications included a host of computer software programs including a lockout bypass, optimized computer and machine interfaces, a stabilization subroutine and a language base program that allowed him to translate over two and half million forms of communication. These programs were exceptionally rare on an off-the-shelf astromech. Other modifications included a laser pointer, a deployable underwater propeller, a pair of jet thrusters that extended down from his two main legs when needed and a highly refined self-defense and targeting package that allowed him to engage in combat when he was outfitted with weapons as he often was.

His most unusual modification though, came about not quite a decade earlier. Continually frustrated by most organic beings' inability to understand droidspeak, he took the ultra-rare step of outfitting himself with a vocabulator, allowing him to speak Basic and hundreds of other well known languages. This was the odd shaped cone on top of his otherwise domed head.

Even with all these extra modifications, which some would've said were extreme, it still didn't seem like it was enough to Gee Tee. He was forever upgrading his computer programs to be state of the art and he'd had to replace his own central core three times in his life in order to handle all the changes without becoming bogged down in "excess electronic computer garbage" as he often called it. Currently he was debating whether he should refit his holographic projector/recorder with an advanced photographic package, replacing his current vocabulator with a better one and whether or not he should add low powered repulsor pads on his feet.

Dahlgen had bought the quirky droid in a second-hand shop somewhere in the Elrood sector more than a decade earlier. According to Gee Tee, he had been sold by his previous owner who had been fed up with trying to "correct and repair whatever personality inconsistencies were making it malfunction" when in reality, he had only been trying to better himself for his owner's use. "Better himself for his owner's use" had taken on a whole new meaning when he'd installed his vocabulator and started conversing with Dahlgen like anyone else would. He was beyond a valuable asset to the team though and Dahlgen made sure that Gee Tee knew that he along with his eccentricities were greatly appreciated by all of them.

Gee Tee unplugged himself from the terminal. "Done. All motion sensors in the ventilation system have been disabled."

"Excellent. Now let's get you set up for the data transfer."

Gee Tee followed the Mandalorian into a small security room that was usually empty during the day and used by whoever happened to be stationed at the receptionist's desk at night. Inside, the snoozing form of the night watchman slumped in his chair, a neural dart sticking out the back of his neck. Everyone had guessed that to keep up an all normal appearance, the regular guards would be at their assigned posts switching authority to the contingent of stormtroopers only if a problem arose. So far, it seemed their suspicions were correct.

Gee Tee once more extended his sensor array and Dannix pulled a comlink from one of many pouches hanging from his belt. "Marsala, you receiving me?"

Several miles outside the capital city in a clearing frequented by the local wildlife, Marsala had parked the Ebon Hawk and was monitoring the control panel, ensuring that all systems were operating normally. Upon hearing Dannix's message, he keyed the comm. "I read you Uncle Dannix."

"How about Chips? You receiving his signal?"

"His signal's coming in fine… link's secure… ready when you are."

Dannix turned to Gee Tee. "Looks like we're all set. Now we wait."

"I just hope that we're done here before security finds anything amiss," Gee Tee said ominously.

_Inside the Main Security Station_

"Have those motion detectors on the ground floor come back up yet?"

"Not yet, but give them time. They'll be back. This sort of thing happens often. It's one of the many drawbacks to being located on a party world like this. The constant loud, raucous entertainment sometimes plays havoc with sensors and other electronic equipment."

The stormtrooper backed away slightly from the view screens, his shoulder insignia identifying him as an officer and the detachment commander that had accompanied one of the two Moffs to this secret meeting. Captain TK7650 began pacing the room. He was annoyed, annoyed at how lackadaisical the security staff of this building appeared to be, though he couldn't really blame them either. After all, this wasn't a military installation. It was a corporate office and a sub-sector sales office at that. He supposed that military secrets didn't flow through a place like this with any degree of regularity, if at all.

Still, with two sector Moffs having a meeting here tonight, he didn't appreciate the fact that the regular staff didn't appear to take it that seriously. TK7650 had gotten considerably paranoid since the Rebels destroyed the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin four months ago and his men were beginning to question his competence. Nevertheless, if the Rebel Alliance had gotten wind of this meeting, he was afraid they could try to capture or kill the Moffs. That wasn't about to happen on his watch.

TK7650 looked at the monitors again. Ever since the motion detectors on the ground floor had gone off-line he'd been waiting patiently for them to start transmitting again. If they'd been out for just a few seconds, even a few minutes, he could buy the regular watch commander's explanation of the planet-wide party overloading them temporarily. But they'd been out more than a quarter of an hour now. The desk guard wasn't responding to calls either. Again the regular watch commander had chalked it up to overloaded equipment due to the party. But TK7650 wasn't convinced. Something was wrong.

He turned to a stormtrooper corporal standing nearby. "You… check out the ground floor and find out why those motion detectors have not come back up. And find out what's happened to desk guard as well."

"Yes sir. Right away sir." The corporal responded with a snappy salute and was out the door before the regular watch commander could protest.

The watch commander regarded the stormtrooper Captain with a bland expression. "Is that really necessary Captain?"

"Yes it is."

"I told you that all these electrical malfunctions are a result of the party going on all across the planet," the watch commander defended his assessment of the situation. "Perhaps you've heard all the thunderous noise and music in the streets around us? It's nothing to get excited about even if we are seven floors off the street. The ground floor is just that… the ground floor. I'm tellin' you Captain, these kinds of malfunctions happen all the time when the Zeltrons throw a wild planet-wide party. Which if you know them like I do, happens to be quite often."

Captain TK7650 had had just about all of the watch commander's blasé attitude that he was going to take. "Listen, you may be right commander," he growled thrusting a finger in the watch commander's direction. "And if you are, I'll be the first to admit I was wrong! But don't you forget what's going on here tonight commander! And until that meeting breaks up, I am in charge here! So if I choose to be a little more zealous in my duties than you're used to, that's the way it will be!"

The watch commander was unmoved by the stormtrooper captain's outburst, but he wasn't about to overstep TK7650's authority either. That was a quick way to get oneself fired at the least. He relaxed in his chair and shrugged nonchalantly. "Suit yourself," he said.

The trip down to the roof of the Mobquet Swoop building was relatively uneventful though Dahlgen had nearly been blown into the street by a sudden gust of wind. He and Dawna had landed safely without anyone on the ground noticing. Even if they had, they probably would've just assumed a couple of Zeltron locals were having another thrill. It was commonplace on Zeltros. Zeltrons participated in skydiving all the time and at all hours.

Stuffing her collapsed parachute into a bag and tossing it into a darkened corner of the roof, Dawna couldn't help but comment on the lax security. "Only one guard in the guard house?" Dawna sounded surprised. "They're slipping."

"Perhaps," Dahlgen admitted. "But that lone guard out there is very alert and he possesses a strong mind." Dahlgen checked his time piece and spoke quietly into its built-in comlink. "Command section in position."

Four different responses came back. "Surprise section in position." "Diversion section in position." "Long range section in position." "Extraction section in postion."

"All right everyone this is it," Dahlgen announced. "Initiate phase two on my mark. Three… two… one… mark."

"Let's get this party started," a voice commented.

"Pipe down," Dahlgen warned. "Maintain audio silence from here on." He checked his time piece again and turned to Dawna. "We've got thirty minutes before that meeting starts."

"Assuming they didn't start early and that it is actually happening," Dawna mused.

To the casual observer, Force Revanchist appeared to be nothing more than a rag-tag band of misfits and unlikely comrades which suited them just fine so they did little to dissuade this notion. After all, not many people believed that one of the best insurgent teams employed against the Empire, squad sized or smaller, consisted of two Mandalorians, a teenaged boy, a sensual but feisty Sith, an old Weequay, a sexy Twi'lek, a couple of droids and a Jedi veteran of the Clone Wars for a leader.

With a 100% mission success rate, Force Revanchist had become something of a minor legend throughout the Rebel Alliance. The true identities of Force Revanchist were unknown to all except a handful of the top-most Alliance leaders. Most of the young rank and file types, especially the young ladies, often pictured Force Revanchist as being a rogue band of dashing smugglers, swashbucklers or pirates that traveled from place to place performing bits of daring heroism that were all too frequently lavishly overrated by the people who told the stories. A few of the old timers felt that Force Revanchist was perhaps a band of Jedi in hiding but still carrying out their most sacred edict, the defense of the Republic.

The truth was that Force Revanchist was far less glamorous than those who told tales of their exploits would have the average person believe.

Creeping along the roof, Dahlgen and Dawna arrived at the point they were looking for… an unguarded shaft that led into and through ventilation system. Dahlgen had pinpointed it as their point of entry during their constant studying of the building's schematics of the building over the past few days. Dahlgen almost had to laugh. Even though the Imperials had picked the most unobvious world to have a secret meeting, they had also picked the most obvious location on that world to have it… in the heart of the only Empire controlled building on all of Zeltros.

Mobquet Swoops and Speeders was owned by the Tagge Company, which was in turn owned by the House of Tagge. The House of Tagge was a powerful family of nobles from the planet of Tepasi and had been involved in galactic affairs for more than 25,000 years. It was widely believed that the House of Tagge was one of the founders of the Galactic Republic, though no hard evidence had ever verified this claim.

Still there was no question as to just how powerful the family was. One of their lesser members, Cassio Tagge, was killed when the Death Star had exploded over Yavin IV not long ago and the family was demanding that the Empire do more to ferret out and exterminate the Rebel Alliance. Even so, the family was in the middle of other crises as well. The leader of the family, Baron Orman Tagge, had recently been stricken with a mysterious illness and his prospects for recovery were grim.

None of this mattered to either of them though as Dawna looked around to make sure no roving patrols were going to surprise them. Satisfied they were alone on the roof, Dawna lit her lightsaber, its green blade snap hissing to life. Slowly began to cut a hole in the vent shaft grating. Despite the weapon's nature and her long familiarity with it, Dawna never ceased to be amazed as to just how quiet a lightsaber could be. A red-skinned Sith woman holding a green bladed lightsaber? That was almost a contradiction in terms. But then those who truly knew Dawna and her true species knew that she was a Sith in name only.

Like Katya, Dawna had been trained by Dahlgen in Forms I, II, III and both variations of Form V. Dahlgen however, had also taken the time though to instruct Dawna in the ways of Form IV, Ataru and parts of Form VI, Niman. Recently he had also begun showing her the wildness and unpredictability of Form VII, Juyo. With knowledge of all those styles under her belt, Dawna was a formidable opponent both offensively and defensively. More so than Katya, even though Dawna had been studying the Force for less time.

Some had questioned Dahlgen's decision to advance Dawna's training ahead of Katya's a few years back, but Dahlgen had insisted that he was doing it purely based on merit. That wasn't entirely true though. In reality, he had sensed that for some as yet unknown reason, Dawna would need such advanced training in the future. Katya would need it too but not as quickly as Dawna would. He didn't understand why at the time and he still didn't understand now. But Katya had accepted his decision without question or envy and she still accepted it now. Even so, Dahlgen had the feeling he was going to have to show both Dawna and Katya some new techniques soon.

Dawna finished her work and removed a large section of the vent shaft grating. Dahlgen climbed into the now open shaft and helped her in after him. There was a dank smell in the shaft and Dahlgen guessed that at least one of the atmospheric scrubbers was malfunctioning. He wondered how long it had been since someone had actually been in the shaft to maintain the system. Typical Imperial doctrine. Use something until it breaks, then ignore the problem for a while and finally do something about it when someone high up the chain of command started getting pissed about it. He'd experienced this kind of mentality most of his life.

His first taste of battle had come at the Battle of Geonosis when he was only nine years old. Dahlgen was on record as the youngest padawan to participate in the battle and the Clone Wars in general. Many of the other seasoned masters of the order had protested against it. But his master, Master Ludmilya Zaitsev, was not dissuaded. She had selected him as a padawan only a few weeks before, having been impressed with his lightsaber skills for someone so young. He and Master Zaitsev were among the team of Republic troops that captured the Geonosian command spire during that battle that opened the Clone Wars. Unfortunately, they had captured it long after Count Dooku and the other Separatist leaders had fled the scene.

Nearly a year later came the Battle of Christophsis which was the only time Dahlgen had met Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano face to face. Though they were the Jedi largely given the credit for winning the battle, they were not the only Jedi to participate in it. Dahlgen, his master and a handful of others had as well. Dahlgen and his master had been responsible for clearing some of the "hotter" areas of fighting of innocent civilians. It was an unenviable task, yet one they performed well as the Separatist armies advanced throughout the city.

Unknown to them, there was a clone trooper traitor in their midst who provided the Separatists with invaluable information as to the Republic's general attack strategy, battle plans and the Jedi's plans to infiltrate the Separatist lines. One of the traitor's more deplorable acts came when he notified the Separatist command that civilians were being evacuated from the world and gave them coordinates to several extraction points.

One of those extraction points was being tended to by Dahlgen and his master when the Separatists mounted an all-out assault on it. Several transports were able to flee the scene with their passengers just in time, but many others became trapped between advancing AATs and hordes of battle droids. In mere minutes, more than three dozen were killed. Any transports that remained evacuated half loaded, leaving many at the mercy of the Separatist guns.

One pilot however, lingered behind a little bit longer than the others. It was long enough for young Dahlgen to charge back into the Separatist barrage and carry six wounded individuals including his own master back for evacuation. The transport's gunners provided him with covering fire, as he set about his task. He had hoped to load all the wounded aboard, but it was an unrealistic goal and it too, finally had to evacuate leaving those left behind to their fate.

That included Dahlgen, who had refused to board the departing transport. Armed only with his lightsaber, his knowledge of the Force and a comlink, Dahlgen held the landing zone with his own skill and judicious deployment of Republic artillery strikes. The relentless pressure on the Separatist forces kept them at bay long enough for some of the transports to eventually return and pick up the remaining people stranded on the landing zone. Dahlgen was the last one to evacuate the area.

He hadn't set foot on Christophsis since that day even though his actions had earned him the Medal of Valor, the highest award offered by the Republic at that time. True to his nature though, Dahlgen never returned to Coruscant to formally claim the award and in the end, he was glad he hadn't. He had never completely trusted politicians and anything that would've been presented to him by that vile slug Palpatine unnerved him.

Dahlgen had never fully trusted Palpatine's precious clone troopers either. Something about them just didn't add up in Dahlgen's mind. It was well known throughout the Jedi ranks that the bounty hunter Jango Fett had been the template for them. And Jango was exposed as a Separatist commander at the Battle of Geonosis, even though he hadn't survived the battle. It therefore, seemed odd to Dahlgen that a Separatist leader would be the template for the very army that would stand against the Separatists. For a long time Dahlgen wondered if he was the only Jedi who felt this way.

As the war ground on, Dahlgen began to question its direction and the seemingly unending string of conflicting targets, deployments and betrayals. He began to believe that they all were being led towards an unseen and horrible fate. Numerous times over the course of the war, he experienced visions of himself standing near a sinister hooded man. This man was standing above a great battlefield, though he was not close enough to see the man's face. In his vision, the man was manipulating two puppets. One puppet was of Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatists as far as the general public knew. The other puppet was of Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Republic. In between the two puppets stood all the members of the Jedi Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and his own master, Ludmilya Zaitsev. He'd had that dream several times during the war and as a result, he began to question whether or not the Jedi Order was paying too much attention to the potential future and not enough attention to the very real present. After all, most Jedi of the age held the philosophy that concentrating on the future and fulfilling destiny was more important rather than paying attention to the here and now. He'd shared these thoughts and concerns with his master, but she had largely ignored them, stating that the most important thing was securing peace for future generations. Dahlgen couldn't help but wonder however, if securing that peace for the future at the expense of the present was a wise thing.

The last time Dahlgen had experienced that vision it had been slightly different in that he had finally been close enough to the hooded man controlling the puppets to pull his hood back. The man didn't even make a move to stop him. And when Dahlgen pulled the hood back, he was horrified to see the face underneath was none other than Chancellor Palpatine. But unlike the peaceful, benevolent leader he displayed to the people as leader of the Republic, this face was twisted in anger and rage with yellow eyes, and Dahlgen realized that Chancellor Palpatine and Darth Sidious, the Sith Lord that the Jedi had been hunting for more than decade, were one and the same. The image of Sidious began to laugh maniacally and he tossed his puppets aside, cast his hands downward and the image of Anakin Skywalker grew to gargantuan proportions and at the same time became encased in the fearsome black armor that was Darth Vader. With a casual sweep of his hand, Vader dispersed the images of all the other Jedi into nothing.

The very next day Order 66 was issued.

Dahlgen and his master had been on Onderon at the time. The war had been going against the Separatists for some time and they had become desperate for territory. In a bid to "sway" systems to their cause, they had launched an all-out invasion of several worlds. Onderon was chosen because it was home to some of the fiercest predatory wildlife in the galaxy. And the Separatist leadership felt that if they got their hands on some of those indigenous life forms and was somehow able to genetically alter and reproduce them, they'd be able to tear right through the Republic ranks.

It was a feeble idea and one that was unquestionably destined to fail. The Separatists hadn't counted on the resourcefulness of Dahlgen and his master. After all, Onderon was Dahlgen's home world and he knew the ins and outs of the planet better than anyone else in the Jedi Order.

Still, there had been extensive casualties. Not just the Republic troops, but the civilians as well. To this day, Dahlgen still felt partially responsible for the thousands of deaths in Onderon's capital of Iziz. Perhaps there wouldn't have been so many if the Republic hadn't responded. But then again, if they hadn't, well he'd seen the price of that all too often as well. It all came to head during the Republic's effort to retake the Onderonian Royal Palace. Dahlgen and his master led the Republic's forces on a grueling hallway by hallway siege of the palace, fighting for literally every square foot they gained. They had just overrun the throne room when the clone troopers turned on them.

Although he was only twelve years old at the time, Dahlgen had been of the Guardian caste and proficient in most of the classic lightsaber combat forms and a couple unorthodox forms well. Most Guardians went on to become either Jedi Battle Masters or Jedi Aces. Battle masters were masters of the lightsaber and a variety of ranged weapons from a simple pocket blaster to a behemoth heavy repeater. Jedi Aces were most comfortable at the controls of a starfighter or some other such vessel. Yet there was another type of Jedi Guardian, the rarest of the caste. One whose beliefs fell somewhat outside the orthodox Jedi philosophy and it was this belief that Dahlgen subscribed to.

The Jedi Martial Artist.

As a general rule, Jedi used meditation and great concentration while at rest to channel the Force and Jedi Marital Artists were no different in this respect. However, Jedi Martial Artists also practiced something more. Similar to those who followed the Matukai teachings, Jedi Martial Artists used their physical bodies as a channel for the Force as well. They sought to achieve balance between the Force and the body using exercise and unarmed combat training as a form of meditation. With this as their primary focus, they kept themselves clean, strong and free of the dark side through physical activity. This was the core philosophy that Dahlgen believed in and it had saved his ass during the execution of Order 66.

A student of the martial art of Echani even before being accepted into the Jedi Order, Dahlgen continued his studies of the ancient art even as his studies of the Force progressed. His master had encouraged these studies as she felt it would serve to make him a better Jedi and a better fighter. Over time, he had incorporated his knowledge of the art into his lightsaber fighting style. The end result was a style of fighting that combined immense strength with unpredictable trickery that very few contemporary Jedi would've believed possible.

Dahlgen never knew what had ultimately happened to Master Zaitsev. The last thing he remembered about her was her ordering Princess Juliette Kira… the heir to Onderon's throne and a friend of Dahlgen's since childhood… to ensure that Dahlgen escaped at all costs. The princess had fulfilled that last order and Dahlgen had made extensive use of the tunnels and sewers under Iziz to escape the onslaught of the traitorous clones. Of course, a little ingenuity never hurt either and he'd managed to survive in an area that not even the bravest of the clones would've traveled… Onderon's wilderness.

The fact that he was a native of Onderon was something that Dahlgen had not shared with anyone, not anyone else on the team, not Dawna, not even his own son. They rarely asked where he was from and when they did, he always had the same answer… "The corner of somewhere and eternity." After all, these were dangerous times for a Jedi and the less people knew about him, the better. He hadn't even been back to Onderon since he'd managed to secure passage off of it. That was twenty years ago and now, at almost 32 years of age, he certainly did not live the life that had once been expected of a Jedi. Nevertheless, he believed Master Zaitsev would be proud of him and of his heritage.

With Dawna riding piggy-back, Dahlgen descended the shaft. As a result of his heritage, Dahlgen possessed a unique and rare trait that few Force sensitive people mastered. The ability to scale sheer walls and hang from ceilings using only his hands and feet. This power had many names but to most, it was simply known as Force Climb. It required great concentration to use, almost as much concentration as the power of Battle Meditation, so it was not a power that one typically used in the throes of intense combat.

"It's just off to your right Dahlgen," Dawna's reassuring voice said behind him.

Recalling the technical specification plans of the building that they all had spent hours studying, Dahlgen knew they were close to a maintenance access tube that ran right above the room where the meeting was supposedly taking place. Reaching out with his perceptions, Dahlgen sensed the uneven cracks in the wall where the door to the maintenance tube was located. Turning towards it, he raised his hand slightly, commanding the door to open from the opposite side. Dawna reached over to grasp the edge and she hauled herself through the opening. Still devoting most of his thought process to his Force Climb ability, Dahlgen slowly followed her through, breaking his concentration only after she had shut the door behind him.

"Okay," Dahlgen said. "So far so good. Straight ahead to the first exchange junction, then left to the meeting room."

The access tube wasn't big enough for them to stand upright, but at least they didn't have to crawl. Dahlgen let out a slight groan of disgust. Twenty years ago, he was helping lead Republic armies to victory over the Separatists. Now he was skulking around darkened hiding places feeling like little more than a glorified thief. _Count your blessings Dahlgen_, he reminded himself. _Far more Jedi didn't even get the chance to do what you're doing now or have the people around you that you do_.

The wet, stale smell of the vent shaft caused Dawna to wrinkle her nose in revulsion. "Ewww," she complained. "When do you suppose the last time someone disinfected this place was?"

"I'm afraid to know the answer," Dahlgen joked unhappily. "Just relax, breathe through your mouth and concentrate on something other than the stench. You'll be fine."

Dawna nodded and took a deep breath through her mouth. Reaching into her own internal well of Force energy, she concentrated on her breathing and slowly began to regulate it. Beginning to breathe deeply through her mouth, she was able to push the unpleasant smell out of her awareness. With that accomplished, they moved forward quietly and she allowed her mind to focus on something that she felt comfortable concentrating on.

Dahlgen.

Known to the galaxy at large as Dawna Kesad and only as Dawna to her close friends, she was something of an enigma to Force Revanchist even though she had been a member of their ranks for some time now. Her true name was Kesad'awn'alani and she had made no secret of the fact that it was structured exactly as names of the Chiss race were, from which her "core name" of Dawna was derived, as was the Chiss custom. This was intriguing to most who knew her true heritage but whenever she was asked about it, Dawna would respond that there was a small colony of Chiss living on the same world where she grew up and they had heavily influenced her people over the years.

Where exactly that was though was a mystery to everyone and Dawna refused to talk about it. Indeed, Dawna spoke little of her past life prior to joining Force Revanchist. She made no secret of the fact that she'd suddenly departed her home world… wherever that was… seven years earlier and hadn't been back since. What she didn't talk about to anyone was what she'd been doing prior to that or why she'd decided to leave her home in the first place. She had met Dahlgen in a bar on Nar Shaddaa a little over six years ago and he'd stunned her by immediately recognizing her as a member of the long-thought extinct Sith species. And for reasons she still didn't quite understand, she'd never denied it to him. Maybe it was because he'd never slighted her for that fact.

At the time they'd met, among other things, Dawna had been looking for transport to Tatooine and she'd paid him well for his taxi service. Only thing was, once they'd arrived at in the Mos Eisley spaceport she'd ended up never leaving. Along the way, Dahlgen had discovered her sensitivity to the Force and, despite her heritage, offered to train her provided she became a full time member of the team. She'd thought about it for all of three seconds before accepting his offer. Thinking back to those days, she had to laugh. A Jedi training a near pureblood Sith in the use of the Force, and the Light Side to boot? Talk about a contradiction in terms! Both Dahlgen and Dawna believed that no Jedi or Sith scholar in recent history would've ever believed it to be possible.

The other members of the team were leery about having a perceived enemy in their ranks at first, but in six years that had followed, she had proven herself time and again to be loyal team member, a formidable fighter and fine pilot too. Yet the members of Force Revanchist knew very little about Dawna personally. When she had signed on as a member of Force Revanchist she claimed then, as she often did now, to hate the rigidity of military life. However, Dahlgen and the others could see from the way she handled herself in battle… with the lightsaber, blasters, even with her knowledge of tactics… she knew far more about military life than she let on. Dahlgen wondered if perhaps she had been an officer in whatever defense force was present on her home world. If so, why had she left their service?

Dahlgen wasn't going to theorize on that issue and he had never pressed Dawna on it either. The two of them had grown very close over the years and Dahlgen felt that trying to pump her for information could ruin that friendship. Another seemingly contradiction in terms as who would've believed that a trained Jedi and a near pureblood Sith could be close friends? Well, whatever Dawna's past contained was between her and the Force. If Dahlgen was ever to learn anything about it, then it would be on her terms.

For her part, Dawna was grateful that she had the group of friends around her that she did. Considering her species and their perhaps well-deserved reputation for causing massive wars, genocide and general galactic instability, she was still to this day amazed that they accepted her without reservation and looked upon her as nothing more than a trusted and honored friend. Though she hadn't really admitted it to any of them yet, they'd become her family. And while she was proud of her species as a whole, she was not at all proud of her species' heritage and history. And she often wondered where her species would be now if they'd just tried to get along and coexist with everyone else instead of always trying to conquer them, wage needless galactic wars and slaughter all who got in their way.

Dawna was especially fond of Dahlgen and the two of them were frequently within eye or ear shot of one another. There was something about him that she found quite disarming. Maybe it was his command of the Force, maybe it was his natural leadership tendencies, maybe it was the way he treated his son, or maybe it was way he sometimes made an ass out of himself whenever he got roaring drunk. She had no idea but there was no doubt she'd never met a man quite like him in her life.

After a short but cramped walk, Dahlgen and Dawna stopped above a ceiling light that cast its glow down into an unseen room. Nearby, a branch of the ventilation system angled downward to vent fresh air into the room below. Using a pocket fusion cutter, Dahlgen made a small hole in the vent shaft near the floor and peered inside. Just below the hole was the vent cover leading into what Dahlgen could clearly tell was a large meeting room below. Several Imperial officers were already seated at the large conference table and Dahlgen could also just make out the outline of a stormtrooper standing guard near the doorway.

He pulled back from the hole he'd made. "Sabacc," he whispered to Dawna. "Looks like they're about to get started." He reached into his coat and spoke into a short range comlink. "Command section, standing by."

Three floors below in the maintenance closet, Katya answered the call. "Diversion section, standing by."

Even further below, Dannix responded. "Surprise section, standing by."

Outside in the park, under the cover of the trees, Dijas reported, "Long range section, standing by."

Far away in the Silver Horizon, Marsala keyed the ship's comm. "Extraction section, standing by. All systems go."

Satisfied with the report, Dahlgen keyed his comlink again. "Initiating phase three."

"Now we see if that contraption that Cronus gave us is worth anything," Dawna mused.

Dahlgen nodded in agreement as he reached into his coat again.

_Mobquet Swoop Building – Main Conference Room_

Moff Gerd Hazloc of the Kwymar sector looked over the rim of his plaspecs at his counterpart from the Mandalore sector. Hazloc hated the man; regarded him as nothing more than whining crybaby who was endlessly asking for more candy from his mother. In an earlier, private discussion with his adjutant, Hazloc had compared the man to an irritating, squealing pig. And he put way too much faith in his superiors, Imperial doctrine and technology. The comment he had just made further confirmed this belief in Hazloc's mind.

Seated directly across the table from Hazloc, Moff Stefan Ulcom of the Mandalore sector thought his counterpart to be the perfect example of a statue, stone-faced and lifeless. No doubt the man survived on a diet of organic bread, ice water and perhaps the occasional granola bar for flavor and to keep the internal plumbing straight. His face was long and whenever he talked, he always seemed to be looking down his nose at whoever he was addressing. Add to that his penchant for elaborate drill, ceremony and snappy inspections, Ulcom felt that Hazloc redefined the term "pompous ass."

Seated at the conference table, the two Imperial sector leaders were so dissimilar it was almost comical. Ulcom's excessive corpulence contrasted greatly to Hazloc's gaunt frame. Hazloc was tall and had silver hair, slightly balding. Ulcom was short with a massive amount of dark hair, though it was cut short to regulation standards. It was about the only thing that Hazloc and Ulcom could agree on.

They had attained their current positions in life through vastly different means. Hazloc had come up through the military during the Clone Wars. He had started out as a first officer aboard one of the Republic's _Venator_-class Star Destroyers. Later, after the Empire replaced the Republic, he had been promoted to captain and given command of a _Victory_-class Star Destroyer… a command he retained for the next decade. Hazloc was then reassigned as the Chief of Naval Operations, Japrael Sector and ascended to the position of Moff a few years later when the Kwymar sector Moff at that time died of illness.

Though Hazloc's military career was not without some distinction, he was more of a legend in his own head, frequently embellishing tales of his exploits, especially for the younger generations. Still, he was a military man through and through, preferring to review his troops and discuss tactics than the political machinations of the Imperial Court.

Ulcom, by contrast, was a man that had attained his position purely through familial connections. Born a distant relation into the same family that produced Colonel Wullf Yularen, Stefan Ulcom had virtually no military experience and precious little training. It therefore came as considerable surprise to most of his contemporaries when it was announced four years ago that he was being made Moff of the Mandalore Sector.

Moff Ulcom held no illusions about how he had obtained his title but he was unhappy that he had been stuck in the Mandalore Sector on the northeast edge of the Outer Rim. He felt that someone of his family's standing should be overseeing a sector in the Core Region or least the Colonies. Little did he know that his family had been forced to call in numerous favors just to get the posting that he did have. Ulcom's military ineptitude and scandalous behavior when it came to women was well-known in the Core and he was privately considered an embarrassment by the Imperial Court and his family.

Adjusting his head so that he was now staring down his nose, Hazloc broke the awkward silence. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Ulcom smiled cordially, barely hiding his contempt. "What I meant was in the not too distant future Rebel Alliance raids on our shipping will be nothing but a bad memory." A faint, yet all too recognizable whistling sound accompanied his words.

"Yes that's what I thought you meant Stefan," Hazloc's condescending voice spat out. "And what makes you so sure of that?"

The tone of Hazloc's voice was not lost on Ulcom. "Don't tell me you haven't seen the reports Gerd? With the development of the new _Lancer_-class frigate, our forces will finally have a light anti-starfighter platform capable of stopping Rebel fighters before they even get close to our heavy freighters."

_You have no concept of tactics you moron_, Hazloc thought. "May I remind you Stefan that only four months ago, the Rebellion as a whole was supposed to be nothing but a bad memory. But then something happened that has driven the fear of annihilation throughout the Empire right up to the Emperor's Advisory Council. Let me see now, what was it? Ah yes. It was that little incident over Yavin when a lone Rebel fighter launched two torpedoes down an unshielded exhaust port, causing the destruction of the most powerful weapon in the galaxy."

"Mock me if you wish Gerd, but I for one am convinced that the _Lancer_ frigate is the key to ultimate victory over the Rebel Alliance." Ulcom's temper was beginning to ignite. "And as for the whole Yavin fiasco… a lucky shot. If I had been in command of that battle station, the Rebels never would've gotten close to that exhaust port!"

_That's true because if you'd been in charge of that battle station, it would've exploded due to your own mismanagement long before it was ever a threat_, Hazloc thought and laughed to himself. "The key to ultimate victory?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Bah! I've read the reports just like you have and I am far from convinced. If the analysis I worked up is anywhere close to accurate then a whole battle group's worth of Lancers can be torn to shreds by a mere two Rebel gunships."

Ulcom dismissed the notion with a loud snort. "Then it is obvious that your analysis is incorrect Gerd. I cannot possibly believe that even ten Rebel gunships would be any kind of a threat against a Lancer." _The trouble with you military types is that you're all the same… all pomp and no brains._

Hazloc nodded. "Just like a star fighter is not supposed to be any significant threat against the Death Star?" _Ha! Counter that you Huttspawn!_

With the argument between the two Moffs escalating, their respective adjutants could only sit on the side and watch in disgust. Moff Ulcom's adjutant, a large older man with copper hair and broad shoulders, faced his opposite colleague. "Do you really think they'll get anything sorted out tonight?"

Moff Hazloc's adjutant was a pretty brunette in her late twenties with an infectious smile. She shook her head in response to her counterpart's comment. "Not really. If anything, they'll agree to come back tomorrow night and yell at each other some more."

Ulcom's adjutant chuckled and nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose your right." He took a swig of coffee before offering his hand. "We've never been properly introduced. Major Verrill Derwit, glorified lackey to Moff Ulcom."

Hazloc's adjutant accepted the handshake. "Lieutenant Sheila Alston. I don't think I need to tell you what my job description is."

"Does the term 'glorified lackey' factor into the job description somewhere?" Derwit said with a smile.

"You have nooooo idea," Sheila responded with a casual roll of her eyes.

Both of them tried to stifle their laughter and Derwit brought a finger to his lips. "Shhhh… before they stop yelling at each other and start yelling at us."

Exasperated with Moff Ulcom's latest comment, Moff Hazloc banged his fist on the table causing several people to be startled by his display of temper. Fortunately his anger had not yet been directed to either of the two adjutants. "You control a backwater sector in the Outer Rim Stefan! Just like me! There is no way that the Emperor or his entourage would ever agree to send either of us a task force of Lancers the size of which you are proposing! In the Core, yes! In the Colonies, maybe! Way out here in the middle of galactic nowhere… forget it!"

Ulcom resented the implication that the Imperial Court would not do as he wished it to. "You Gerd, forget about my connections! My family…"

"Means nothing in the Outer Rim!" The veins in Hazloc's neck were threatening to burst. "Gods man, mass production hasn't even begun on the Lancers yet! And when it does begin, every sector inside the Inner Rim will get first crack at them! Do you honestly think that just because you're a member of some noble family… a low-ranking member I may point out… that your name entitles you to preferential treatment? In the Core perhaps, but not out here! Out here, you make do with what you have! You prioritize, you adapt and you overcome! If you had any military training at all, you'd know how to do that! And if Coruscant decides to throw you a bone every now and then, you do what we all do… act like a good little dog bowing before its master."

Ulcom's eyes were on fire as he started to rise out of his chair. "Why you…"

Hazloc knew he could take Ulcom easily if he wanted a brawl, but that would only be counter-productive to the meeting and could very well destroy other things that they were both working on. "Enough about the damned Lancers!" Hazloc roared with an impatient gesture. "This constant arguing is getting us nowhere and it has absolutely nothing to do with why either of us are here! We have more important matters to discuss."

For a moment it looked as if Ulcom was going to ignore Hazloc's statement and initiate a brawl anyway. As the seconds went by however, he relaxed a bit and returned heavily to his seat. "I assume you are talking about Project Epsilon?" The irritating whistling noise in his voice had gotten more pronounced as a result of his anger.

_Do you always wheeze when you talk?_ Hazloc couldn't help but wonder how the man was able to pass his yearly physical. But then, being a member of a prominent family did afford some luxuries even way out in the middle of "galactic nowhere" and Hazloc supposed that it didn't take much to have computer-whipped medical documents produced. "What else would I be talking about Stefan," Hazloc said simmering down.

"Indeed," Ulcom agreed. "So?"

"Initial tests are promising but then last time this device was used, it required exorbitant amounts of power to generate the desired result. To be precise, it required the power of four heavy cruisers. But you of course, know this already from your own reports and study of the data logs that your own survey teams recovered."

"I've read the logs," Ulcom confirmed. "I am aware of the power requirements."

"In order for the project to be successful we must find a way to generate the required power without having to resort to something so physically massive to generate it," Hazloc theorized. "This would almost definitely please His Majesty and the Imperial Advisory Council."

"I agree. So how do we go about that?"

Hazloc rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands. "Well now Stefan, therein lies our problem. My science staff has been working to find a solution to this problem for the past six months without success. Factor in the disastrous test two weeks ago that resulted in the loss of my chief engineer along with ninety-eight percent of his staff and progress could come to standstill in a rather short amount of time."

_So that's why you called this meeting. You need my resources._ "So why are you telling me this Gerd," Ulcom asked already knowing what Hazloc's answer would be.

Hazloc wasn't about to get on his knees and beg from resources from a man that he absolutely despised. "Well you and I are supposed to be working on this project together Stefan. I think that we are far enough along development that a more judicious… melding of resources could improve our chances of success and deliver the weapon that His Majesty wants ahead of schedule."

_Clever_, Ulcom thought. _Ask for what you want by not asking for it and suggesting more cooperation between us. You'll become a politician yet._ Although Ulcom hated giving in, he did have to grudgingly concede that Hazloc had a point. And neither of them relished the idea of going before the Emperor and explaining why Project Epsilon was either behind schedule or an outright failure. If that were to happen, Ulcom doubted either of them would be returning to their current positions in the Imperial machine.

Ulcom offered Hazloc a smile that even the two adjutants could tell was strained and false. "I agree with you Gerd. I think we should be pooling our resources more now. Sharing thoughts, ideas and information more freely is a wonderful suggestion. I can certainly help, but only insofar as having members of my team offer suggestions and solutions to problems you and your team may be experiencing; and vice-versa of course."

"Of course," Hazloc strained to say.

"Yet as a gesture of good faith my friend, I shall send an engineering team to you right away." _Ewww, I can't believe I just called him 'friend.'_ Ulcom made a grand gesture with his hands and puffed his chest a bit. "I know of a particular individual who would be perfect in the role of chief engineer and his staff is quite competent as well."

_I'll bet you do._ "Very well, I would be happy to receive him and any other technical staff he chooses to accompany him."

"I'll send his dossier to you as soon as I return to the Mandalore Sector," Ulcom proposed. "I think you'll find his credentials more than adequate to the task at hand."

Hazloc nodded. "Fine. Once I review it, I'll send him all available files and test data that we have so that he may analyze it before arriving.

"Then it's settled Gerd," Ulcom stood slightly and offer his hand across the table. "I'm glad we're going to be working closer together my friend to complete Project Epsilon in a timely fashion."

Hazloc swallowed hard before reluctantly accepting Ulcom's gesture of friendship, especially since he knew it was anything but sincere.

Seated in their hiding place above the meeting room, Dahlgen and Dawna monitored the short, cylindrical object that was dutifully recording every second of the conversation going on below. A long thin, tube extended down and away from the device so that it was just poking out of the vent screen that Dahlgen had surveyed earlier. This tube concealed the actual holographic recorder and the data the cylindrical device collected was being transmitted via a short range frequency to Gee Tee several floors below. Gee Tee in turn was acting as a relay station, re-transmitting a much stronger signal over a greater distance to the freighter where Marsala monitored the incoming signals.

Dahlgen rubbed the bridge of his nose in deep thought as he listened to Moffs argue and yell at each other. He didn't have to strain himself to hear. They were yelling so loudly, Dahlgen was reasonably sure that Dannix some floors below could hear them without problem. _It's utterly amazing that these two manage to get anything done considering how much they hate each other._

Across from him in the narrow passage, Dawna shifted slightly and folded her arms over her chest. Dahlgen glanced over at her and got lost for a moment appreciating how physically appealing the Sith woman was to him. It was not the first time he'd done so. He wasn't sure if it was because of some deep rooted romantic attraction or if he was just grateful to have her in his life. Whatever the reason, he was happy that she had decided to accompany him and the other members of his team after they'd first met. She'd proven to be a loyal member of the team a hundred times over and Dahlgen considered her to be one of his closest friends and confidants. In the time she'd been with Force Revanchist, Dawna had been a wonderful source of healing for the Clone Wars veteran.

Order 66 and its immediate aftermath had been traumatic enough for Dahlgen. But a little more than fourteen years ago, Dahlgen had suffered a second particularly traumatic event in his life, one he didn't like to talk about even to this day. No one, not even Dawna, knew all the circumstances surrounding it and Dahlgen wanted to keep it that way as long as he could. He'd suffered through the pain and anguish of it for eight years before he'd met Dawna. She didn't know it, but she'd helped him focus on the good that had come as a result of it and shown him the path to healing. For that, Dahlgen was forever grateful to her.

Feeling his eyes upon her, Dawna turned to meet his gaze. "Are you all right Dahlgen?"

Dahlge suddenly realized he'd been staring at her rather intently for a while now and cleared the cobwebs from his mind with a quick shake of his head. "Forgive me Dawna, I didn't mean stare. I was just… lost in thought."

Dawna eyed him coyly. "And just what were you thinking about?"

"Uhhhhhh…."

Dahlgen was saved from the embarrassing situation when the two Moffs began discussing Project Epsilon. Immediately alerted, he listened closely to their discussion about the power requirements necessary for success and was particularly interested in the fact that nearly an entire engineering team had been wiped out in the most recent test. It meant that the Imperials were having problems harnessing that kind of power and keeping control of it once they had. Dahlgen had a sinking feeling that only a super weapon of some kind would require that much power. He swore under his breath. This simple information retrieval mission had just gone off in whole other dimension that none of them could've predicted.

Something that one of the Moffs said bothered Dahlgen. Something about the last time the device was used. That meant that whatever they were working on, if it was indeed a super weapon, was a redesign of a previously existing weapon. But which one? There were so many that the Old Republic had destroyed over the millennia it was next to impossible to keep track of them all. And it was also entirely possible that the predecessor of whatever they were redesigning now was decommissioned or destroyed somehow before the Old Republic had ever gotten wind of it.

Whatever the truth was, Dahlgen was getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. A new super weapon in the hands of the Empire was bad enough. But a new super weapon right on the heels of the Battle of Yavin? That battle alone had cost the Alliance a tremendous amount of resources and Imperial might was cracking down in nearly every sector across the galaxy trying to ferret out Rebel insurgent groups wherever they could be found. Though a plethora of worlds had flocked to the Rebel banner in the wake of the destruction of the Death Star, the Alliance was still far from the cohesive fighting force needed to truly challenge the might of the Empire.

Dahlgen looked back at Dawna and from the look on her face he knew she was having the same thoughts. "Why do I suddenly have the feeling that we're all going to be very closely associated with this Project Epsilon in the near future?" he asked her.

"I don't know. Could it be the fact that we're Force sensitive and have a reasonable aptitude for foresight?" Dawna's tone was humorous, but deep down she was worried too.

"I'm serious Dawna."

"I know Dahlgen and I'm sorry. I'm just as concerned as you are."

Dahlgen turned to her, then smiled and gave his Sith friend a pat on the knee. "Ahhh don't worry about it. If you can't makes jokes every now and then no matter the circumstances, then you're nothing more than a grouchy old Wookiee who's taken one too many trips into the Shadowlands."

"Don't let Hooroo hear you say that."

"Are you kidding? Crazy I may be, but stupid I am not. Besides, I'd like to think that Hooroo would know I was speaking metaphorically."

"Would you be willing to bet Hooroo's anger on that?"

Dahlgen considered Dawna's words for a moment before shaking his head enthusiastically. "Not really."

"I didn't think so."

Huuruundar… known as Hooroo to his friends… was an old, grizzled Wookiee who owned and operated a tavern / nightclub known as the Jewel of Kashyyyk on Nar Shaddaa. It happened to be the very same bar where Dahlgen and Dawna had met six years earlier. Though Hooroo was not officially a part of the group, he knew them all well and had aided them numerous times in the past by providing them with foodstuffs, equipment and supplies and occasionally extra muscle in the form of his two sons, Forndak and Chenlamabec. They usually did this free of charge, but every now and then one or more of them would end up slinging drinks for Huuruundar at the club for a night or two as payback.

Before either of them could say any more, klaxon sirens began wailing and numerous red strobe lights began flashing in all directions. All at once, the meeting room below them was a flurry of activity as the adjutant officers began ushering the Moffs out. The stormtroopers followed, taking point and flanking guard positions around the top officers.

A smirk worked its way onto Dahlgen's face as he plucked his double saber from his belt. "Looks as if the poodoo has hit the proverbial exhaust vent… again."


	2. The Descendant: Chapter 2

**The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 2**

_Mobquet Swoop Building_

_Planet Zeltros_

From behind the barely open door of a public refresher, Dannix kept a watchful eye on the pair of stormtroopers that were snooping around the ground floor. They moved slowly, carefully inspecting every square inch of the ground floor that they could. With their blasters held at the ready, Dannix could tell they were expecting the worst. Twice they'd already called out for their comrade with no answer. One of the troopers, a sergeant, told his subordinate that he was going to check the guard room.

Earlier, Katya had called Dannix with a warning that a single stormtrooper was descending in the turbolift, presumably to the ground floor. Her hunch had been right. Dannix had dispatched the trooper easily and his unconscious body now lay just a few feet behind him. It therefore came as no surprise when Katya called again, telling him that two more troopers were on their way, no doubt in search of their missing comrade. So far they hadn't checked the refresher but Dannix knew it was only a matter of time until they did.

The sergeant moved in the direction of the night security room out of Dannix's field of vision, leaving his subordinate standing alone in the open. Dannix raised his right arm, aiming his wrist launcher at the lone figure. He had to time this perfectly. If he fired too early, the sergeant would hear the body collapse to the floor. If he fired too late, the sergeant could turn and see the shot allowing him to zero in on Dannix's location.

_Steady boy_, Dannix told himself. _Just another trainin' exercise._

He heard the door to the guard room open and Dannix waited a few more seconds before letting the dart fly. Filled with a powerful anesthetic, the dart neatly embedded itself in the neck of the trooper, delivering its cargo into his bloodstream. Sandman quickly came calling as the trooper barely got his hand up to his neck to feel for the source of sharp pain he felt before he passed out on the floor. It would be long past daybreak before he woke up and then he'd have one doozy of a hangover.

The sergeant cautiously moved into the night security room and almost immediately, his gaze fell upon the form of the desk guard slumped in the chair. The sergeant cursed loudly and went to check him, finding him unconscious. Well that was part of the mystery solved at least. But it didn't explain where the trooper TK7650 had initially sent down was located nor did it explain where the assailant was hiding?

Motion to his right caught the sergeant's eye and he tensed his grip on his rifle. "Whoever you are come out now and you will not be shot," he ordered moving ahead slowly. "Whatever you are trying to do know that you have failed. In the name of His Majesty, Emperor Palpatine, show yourself or be killed."

A few feet ahead of him in the shadows, Gee Tee rolled forward a few feet and stopped so that the sergeant could partially see him. The sergeant however, failed to see the transmission antenna sticking up out of the droid's back. He twittered and beeped a few times in droidspeak, clearly irritated that he had been discovered.

The sergeant relaxed a bit and lowered his weapon, but he was also a bit perplexed. "A droid? You seriously expect me to believe that a mere droid knocked out one night watchman and made another trooper disappear? Where's your master?"

"That's for me to know and you to wish you did," Gee Tee replied angrily.

"Basic? You speak Basic? Fah, no matter. So you want to be tough eh? Fine. We've got ways of making even droids talk… in any language." The sergeant called out to his subordinate. When no answer was returned, the sergeant figured his subordinate simply hadn't heard him due to the noise coming from the security room. "Private, contact base and, ooof…" As the sergeant returned to the lobby, his voice was suddenly cut off by the body of a Mandalorian slamming into him in a flying tackle causing both men to crash to the floor, the sergeant's blaster skittering away.

Dannix rolled to his knees and immediately lashed out with a leg sweep that sent the rising sergeant back down onto his backside. Getting to his feet, the sergeant suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Dannix around the midsection and propelling them both into a nearby wall. The Mandalorian recoiled from the unexpected stop and only his helmet prevented a knockout blow to his head. The sergeant proceeded to drive his fist several times into Dannix's ribs.

Grunting painfully with every blow, Dannix's knee shot up and slammed into the sergeant's gut. Air whooshed from his lungs as Dannix pivoted to his left and struck the sergeant in the head with an elbow. Had the sergeant not been wearing stormtrooper armor, the blow probably would've been lethal. As it was however, the sergeant was only driven against the wall. The Mandalorian warrior snapped his right leg forward, trying to stomp his heel into the sergeant's back, but the sergeant had retained enough of his senses to get out of the way before the foot landed. Using his own momentum, Dannix pushed off the wall an instant before the sergeant's own elbow strike would've cracked his shin.

Putting a few feet's distance between him and the sergeant, Dannix awaited the sergeant's next move. The sergeant was already breathing heavy, a sign that he had not kept his martial skills up to Imperial standards while serving his current post. He charged the Mandalorian again but this time Dannix was ready for the assault. Stepping into his opponent's charge, Dannix swiftly stunned him with a hard punch to the midsection. The Mandalorian then grabbed the sergeant by his shoulders and groin and flipped him head over heels through the air. The sergeant's cart wheeling form landed hard on the receptionist's desk crushing the desk terminal under his weight. Dazed, the sergeant's hand rolled slightly and pressed a nearby red button.

An instant later, the general alarm sounded.

"Terrific," Dannix complained. "Here we go, straight down the blasted black hole again."

_The Guard House_

Trooper TK8873 sucked in a hard breath as he retreated behind the corner of the guard house. A well placed shot from an unseen sniper impacted the ground just millimeters from his head. He'd tried to get a bead on wherever that sniper was, but the sniper had the guard house zeroed. No matter where he tried to get a bead on the sniper, he was barely able to observe for half a second before he'd have to duck.

Another shot buzzed overhead, sending shards of glass raining all over TK5309. Wherever that sniper was, he'd been very successful in keeping them pinned. As soon as the alarm had gone off, TK8873 had sprung into action. He'd gathered up his blaster, rousted TK5309 and ran for the building's entry way. Half an instant after that though, four shots from that cursed sniper drove him back to take cover behind the guard house. One of those shots had grazed TK8873's side. It hurt like hell but at least it wasn't serious.

TK5309 cringed as yet another shot impacted near her head and she looked fearfully at TK8873. "What do we do?"

TK8873 shook his head. "Nothing we can do. He's got us zeroed. We take one step in the open and we've had it!"

TK5309 swallowed hard. When TK8873 had awakened her, she'd been so dazed from her deep slumber that she'd stood upright, not knowing what was going on around her. An instant later, TK8873 had saved her life, pulling her to the ground just as the sniper's next shot would've killed her.

Keeping watch on the guard house through the cross hairs, Dijas smiled. "Come on pretty boy. Stick your head out again. I'll make it quick and painless."

Dijas fired again causing TK8873 to retreat once more. "I got all night mate. Sooner or later you're gonna screw up and then you're mine."

TK8873 tried to pinpoint Dijas's location again and Dijas sent him scurrying. "That's it mate. Come to papa."

A loud explosion on the top floor rang out and shattered several windows. "Bloody hell," Dijas muttered as he readjusted his position and scanned the top floor. He sighted in on a stormtrooper standing near one of the shattered windows with his back to it. "Now I see you…" Dijas fired and the trooper disappeared from his scope. "… now I don't."

He readjusted himself again, zeroing in on the guard house once more. Neither of the occupants had moved while he'd taken care of the trooper on the top floor. Dijas wanted to be certain they didn't get any bright ideas, so he fired another warning shot that took a chip out of the back right corner of the guard house. The shot nearly took TK8873's nose with it and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Damn, that sniper was good. Whoever it was, he'd shifted his aim from the guard house, taken out a target on the top floor, then focused back on the guard house in less time than it had taken TK8873 to realize an opportunity to escape had presented itself. _Some Empire_, he thought. The "greatest fighting force the galaxy had ever seen" was getting its butt handed to it all across said galaxy. Even here on this party world, it appeared they were losing their asses. And as another shot from the sniper landed dangerous close to his head, TK8873 could only think of one thing.

_I hate my damn job._

_The Main Security Station_

Expertly wielding her lightsaber, Katya Saren turned away a volley of blaster fire, smiling in grim satisfaction as they punched through the armor of the stormtrooper that had fired at them. She then raised her hand and used Force Throw to toss a second stormtrooper through an office window and back into the main security office. Assuming a defensive posture with her lightsaber held in front of her, Katya scanned the area for her next target.

Immediately after the alert had sounded, Katya and Cronus had sprung into action and nearly the entire floor now bore the scars of battle. More than half a dozen stormtroopers and security guards lay dead in various locations and at least that same number were wounded. From behind the overturned desk he was using as cover, Cronus used his twin Mandalorian Heavy Blasters to lay down suppressing fire, ensuring the stormtroopers kept their heads down. One trooper's head was sticking up too far and Cronus blasted the top of his helmet and head off, the trooper falling over dead before he knew what hit him.

Crouching low was not an easy thing for the elderly Weequay to do. Yet Cronus did it and moved to his left, guessing that the remaining troops would zero in on where his last shot had come from. His instincts were correct as a few seconds later, a flash grenade exploded right behind the desk where he had been. Cronus popped his head up briefly and fired his blasters again, causing several troopers down range to duck for cover.

A flash of metal appeared out of the corner of his eye and Cronus jerked his head back just before the incoming vibrosword could decapitate him. It did however knock the blasters from his grasp. With an enraged scream, Cronus swiped at the trooper with his hands, sweeping the stormtrooper's feet out from under him and he landed on his face. Most beings in the galaxy viewed the Weequay species as being boorish and not very smart. They often tended to forget that Weequay had a very proud and honorable warrior tradition and had contributed a number of their species to the Jedi Order in years past. Planting his foot against the trooper's spine and grabbing him by the neck and legs, Cronus yanked with all of his might, breaking the trooper's back.

He heard footsteps to his left and Cronus quickly recovered his blasters, triggering a hasty burst that sent a charging stormtrooper stumbling backwards with multiple blaster hits to the chest into two of his comrades. He spat at the trooper as he fell. _Damn bastard_, he muttered in the Weequay language.

Nearby, Katya executed a Soresu maneuver that deflected a blaster shot from one target while simultaneously slashing a second opponent that was within range of her blade. The cut she made was superficial, but she made a fast one-handed 360 degree turn known as a s_hun_ and drove her blade home with a s_hi tok_ fatal stab to her opponent's heart.

Her finely attuned Force senses alerted her to the incoming danger before Katya ever saw the threat. Reacting instinctively to her perceptions, the Lethan Twi'lek woman's blue lightsaber flashed in the darkness and parried the vibrosword of a stormtrooper that had advanced close enough to draw it. The stormtrooper had expected an easy kill at close range and was startled when Katya proved she was physically much stronger than he expected, using her own momentum to spin him 180 degrees and land a kick to his backside sending him on a collision course with the floor.

A blaster bolt flew past her head but she paid it no attention, settling into a standard, two-handed Djem So stance. The stormtrooper she'd kicked away moved in for another attack, swiping his blade low at Katya's feet. She countered this with a _sai _hop that allowed her opponent's blade to pass harmlessly underneath her. Landing on her feet, Katya pounded away at the trooper's defense with a series of hard, powerful Djem So style blows that drove the trooper further and further to his knees with every stroke. Panicked, the trooper thrust his blade forward, intending to impale the Twi'lek woman on it. Katya reacted with a _shun_ maneuver and flicked her blade to her right, severing his weapon hand and Force Throwing him into a nearby turbo lift door with a loud crunch.

Lying prone on the floor of main security office, TK7650's mind rapidly scanned through a plethora of possible escape routes from their current situation. But even as did so, he knew he was in a fight to the death as any sort of escape route he envisioned led right past either the red Twi'lek or her Weequay friend or both. He snap aimed his rifle and triggered two shots at the red Twi'lek, both of which were rendered harmless as she batted them away. Smoke had begun to fill the area and despite the polarized lenses of his helmet, it was difficult for him to see through the haze. Slowly he inched his way behind the large communications console that both he and the watch commander were using for cover. The watch commander was wide-eyed with fear and white as a sheet. His hands shook uncontrollably as he held his blaster pistol close to his chest.

"Nothing to worry about huh?" TK7650 sneered at the terrified watchman. He pointed to dead trooper nearby. "Tell that to him and all the others. If we weren't in the middle of this fight, I'd shoot you myself."

The watch commander could only look at the stormtrooper commander in shock. Neither of them noticed the faint spatial distortion that watched them nearby. TK7650 flinched as several shots slammed into the main console, shorting it out for good. Circuitry sizzled and exposed wires showered sparks in numerous directions.

A sergeant appeared next to him along with two other troopers. "Commander, where's our reinforcements?"

"How the hell do I know sergeant," TK7650 argued. "It's reasonable to assume however that that red schutta and her prune faced friend are not the only intruders in this building. I can only conclude that, for now at least, we're on our own."

TK7650 correctly deduced that all three of them were hoping that he, the commander, would somehow come up with a plan that would save them. Although he had gone up against many blaster toting thugs and rebels in his career, this was the first time he'd ever faced anyone wielding a lightsaber. And from the display he'd witnessed, she was hardly an amateur. Over the sound of erupting blaster fire, TK7650 could still hear the incessant hum of the red Twi'lek's weapon. Shaking the fear from his mind that threatened to overcome him, he turned back to his men. "How many other able bodied troops do you have sergeant?"

"Aside from these two, four others holed up on the west side sir."

That wasn't a lot given what they'd started with, but he figured some troops were better than none at all. "All right…" TK7650 pointed to the two other troopers. "You two stay here with me. Sergeant, go take command of those other men. When I give the signal, we all go forward and catch them in a pincer movement. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

TK7650 grabbed the sergeant by the arm as he started to leave. "Try to take at least one of them alive. I want a prisoner for interrogation."

"As you wish sir."

The sergeant headed off per his orders and one of the other troops addressed the commander. "You think this'll work?"

"I don't know trooper, but we've got to try to break out of this bottleneck we're trapped in." TK7650's voice was grim. "These two are just a distraction team, sent to keep us occupied. The real threat is elsewhere and it could be assassinating or kidnapping both Moffs as we speak."

An instant later, the entire building went dark.

_The Receptionist Area_

Dannix ducked low under the stormtrooper sergeant's wild swing and drove his own clenched fist into the sergeant's gut. Though the sergeant grunted painfully, he pressed his own assault, bringing his elbow down into the middle of Dannix's back. His Mandalorian armor prevented the blow from being anything more than painful, but it still got the warrior's attention.

In a rage, Dannix reached up and grabbed the sergeant by the throat. The sergeant's own hands clawed at the furious Mandalorian, desperately trying to free himself from Dannix's throttling grip. "_Ke nu jurkad ti Mando'ade, di'kut!"_ Dannix yelled in the sergeant's face which meant "Don't cross swords with a Mandalorian, idiot!"

Dannix slammed his knee into the sergeant's groin and he yelped in agony. The enraged Mandalorian warrior then hooked his fingers under the chin-piece of the sergeant's helmet and gave it sharp yank, ripping the helmet off of his head. Before the sergeant could react, Dannix head-butted him right in the face, the audible snap of bone echoing throughout the empty lobby as his nose was crushed. As the sergeant staggered backwards, Dannix threw the helmet at him and it glanced off the sergeant's temple and rolled away.

Through the haze of pain and popping lights, the sergeant tasted the blood that flowed from his shattered nose. He had light blonde hair and a boyish face. He was just a kid really, at best in his early 20s. It mattered little to Dannix though. The "kid" was still a stormtrooper and his sworn enemy who would think nothing of ending Dannix's life if he got careless.

Though in obvious pain, the sergeant took the offensive again leading with his right fist and following up with a left hook aimed at Dannix's throat. No matter what type of attack the sergeant tried however, Dannix either parried, counterattacked or weaved away from it. The sergeant was becoming desperate and his attacks were losing their focus with each failed attempt. Once more, the sergeant threw a wild punch and Dannix trapped his arm in shoulder lock.

Turning to his left, the angry Mandalorian guided the stormtrooper sergeant into the destroyed receptionist's console again and he ended up spread eagle on the desk. Grabbing the trooper by his hair, Dannix slammed his head into the desk several times, completely destroying what was left of the sergeant's nose. Panic stricken, the sergeant kicked out with his legs and landed a blow into Dannix's gut. Dannix stumbled back and quickly pivoted to his right, avoiding the sergeant's next charge. He then slammed a boot into the sergeant's left side, causing him to fall to the floor.

The sergeant rolled backwards and came up on his feet, his discarded blaster rifle suddenly in his hand again. Seeing what was happening, Dannix's hand flew to the holster at his hip and his heavy blaster pistol. But the sergeant had the drop on him as he raised his weapon to fire.

A single blaster shot rang out and the sergeant's body went rigid for a second. His eyes glazed over and his jaw dropped open in utter shock. An instant later, his eyes rolled back into his head and his lifeless body toppled forward, his face smacking the floor and an ugly blaster burn in the back of his head. Behind him, Gee Tee retracted his "blaster" back into his head dome.

Dannix regarded the little droid with considerable gratitude. "Good timing there Chips."

"You're welcome," Gee Tee said with mild sarcasm.

Dannix re-holstered his heavy blaster and pulled a small transmitter from a belt pouch. "Get back in there and shut down all the turbo lifts." He pressed a button on the transmitter and the explosive charge he had set up earlier detonated with a roar, severing the main power hub and instantly plunging the building into darkness.

_The Top Floor – Near the Main Conference Room_

Several blaster bolts impacted the turbo lift door just above Moff Ulcom's head. "Damn you fools," he screamed in the darkness. "You're going to get me killed!"

"Oh will you shut up already!" Hazloc snapped two quick shots off at their closest assailant, both of which failed to hit his target. _Typical. The minute the shooting starts he whines like a baby and blames everyone else for his own ineptitude._

Moff Ulcom had been trying to get the turbo lift open while the others dealt with the sudden threat behind them. Only in his terrified haste, Ulcom had accidently shorted out the control panel and Major Derwit was now hastily employing emergency repairs. With a nervous glance, Derwit did his best to size up their two assailants, a tall human man with long dark hair and a svelte red-skinned near-human woman with equally long dark hair and intense yellow eyes. What the hell species was she? He'd never seen a near-human like that before. Whoever she was, both she and her male companion wielded lightsabers with tremendous effectiveness.

Major Derwit glanced behind himself, his face awash with fear. His brain still couldn't completely comprehend what was unfolding not twenty feet away and he strained to get a better look through the haze. Yes, he'd been right. There were some markings on the back, shoulders and sleeves of the man's coat that were undeniably Mandalorian in nature. A Mandalorian? Wielding a lightsaber? That was almost a contradiction in terms, and one that was not lost on him or any of the Imperial officers currently staring at him. How had he obtained the weapon? Maybe he'd taken it from the body of a Jedi he'd killed, but that didn't explain his own prowess with the weapon, nor did it explain the presence of the red-skinned woman also wielding a lightsaber. Maybe he wasn't really a Mandalorian and was merely wearing some of their markings to disguise his identity. As absurd as it sounded, the idea made sense in Derwit's mind and had to be the answer. A true Mandalorian Jedi was preposterous.

Dahlgen swept the blades of his violet colored double bladed lightsaber around, swatting away some more blaster fire before they could hurt him. After the alarm had gone off, Dahlgen made the decision to capture one or both Moffs for the Alliance. He knew it was risky, especially since neither he nor Dawna had been spotted up to that point. But this Project Epsilon that the two Moffs had talked about… there was something about it that made his stomach churn and he was determined to get some more answers.

Dawna hadn't particularly liked the idea of capturing the Moffs, but she understood Dahlgen's reasoning and she trusted his judgment. When it came to investigating the existence of super weapons, the Alliance High Command needed more than a gut instinct to devote resources to such an investigation. The Alliance could hardly be blamed for that with their resources spread so thinly to start with. They certainly didn't want to find themselves chasing nothing and diverting resources away from threats that truly existed.

Sensing motion near her, Dawna quickly angled her blade in a Shien style reverse grip, blocking the incoming vibrosword from delivering a fatal slash to her previously exposed side. The stormtrooper held the blade in a strong two-handed grip and tried to press his advantage. While this technique may have worked against an average human female, Dawna was not human and she was certainly more than the average pureblood Sith. Certainly she was more than a match for the Imperial buffoon currently trying to bury the sword in her flesh.

In the six years she had studied under Dahlgen, he had told her that one of her greatest strengths in a hand to hand contest would be for her to appear weaker than she really was. Using that lesson to her advantage, Dawna gave some ground to the trooper. Misinterpreting this move for failing strength, the trooper shouted in victory. But his self applause turn to a gasp of surprise as Dawna shifted her body slightly and deactivated her blade. With suddenly nothing to resist him, the trooper pitched violently forward.

It was a maneuver Dahlgen had taught her years ago. In less time than it took at bat an eye, Dawna spun her weapon around and reactivated it, severing the trooper's arms just below his elbows. As the trooper continued falling forward, his throat met Dawna's blade in a _sai cha_ decapitating strike and his head bounced along the floor while the rest of his armored corpse hit with a hard thud.

The four Imperial officers stared in disbelief and Moff Ulcom screamed in terror as they watched Dawna slice off the head of the trooper. Lieutenant Alston hastily fired three shots at the Sith woman and quickly dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding them as Dawna sent all three shots back at her.

Surveying the scene around him, Dahlgen guessed that more than half the stormtroopers were now out of the fight. But several troops still stood between him the Moffs however and there was plenty of cover for them. With their primary escape route cut off however, the chances of capture were high but Dahlgen knew the Moffs were actively searching for another escape route. And as long as the troops kept him and Dawna busy, the Moffs had a better than average chance of getting away. One unlucky trooper popped up and fired one shot, only to have Dahlgen deflect it right back into his head. His corpse toppled backwards and landed next to Moff Ulcom.

"Do something!" the portly Moff screamed like a terrified child.

Derwit gave up on the turbo lift control panel. "It's no use. The panel's shot." He drew a blaster pistol and began firing hastily aimed shots. "Our only chance is the stairs over there." The major pointed to a doorway on the other side of the room. To get to it, they would briefly have to expose themselves once they got close, a point that was not lost on Ulcom.

"Are you crazy," the inept Moff yelled. "We'll be sitting ducks if we try that."

"And what do you suppose we are now Stefan," Hazloc shouted. He flinched as a reflected blasted bolt struck a little too close to his face. "Would you rather stay here and be cut to pieces by a lightsaber?" The humming sound of Dahlgen and Dawna's weapons punctuated his words.

"The troopers can handle them," Ulcom insisted though it obvious to everyone else that he was speaking more from Imperial propaganda than anything.

"Are you daft man?" Hazloc screamed. "Just look around you! Nearly all our troops are dead! And if we don't get out of her soon, we're next!"

Derwit didn't wait for Ulcom to say any more. Instead, he pointed to him and Lieutenant Alston. "You two first. Head for the stairway and don't stop for anything. We'll cover you."

Major Derwit was annoyed, annoyed that his sector Moff was so horrifyingly unqualified for his job. While Imperial doctrine did not require a sector Moff to have any military training, it did help if one at least had a grasp of the basics. It also helped greatly if your own trusted aides and military commanders didn't address you as "All Coward" behind your back.

This was the first time the major had ever faced Jedi in battle and he was well aware of their reputation. His military career had just gotten underway at the tail end of the Clone Wars when he was a fresh, newly appointed officer just out the academy. Robbed of the chance to prove himself on the field of battle because of the abrupt conclusion of the conflict, Derwit nevertheless decided to make the military his career, transferring to Logistics & Administration. Someone had to make sure that the endless bureaucratic highway didn't get jammed up with a lot of frivolous nonsense and Derwit decided that someone might as well be him.

Unfortunately he didn't have a lot to show for nearly 20 years of dedicated service. He'd made Captain nearly seven years ago and hadn't really expected to go any higher in terms of rank for the remainder of his career. Then a little over a year ago, he'd been offered the chance to serve as Moff Stefan Ulcom's adjutant. It was a job that was not too much different than his humorous description of it to Lieutenant Alston earlier but it did have a few perks. It came with an immediate promotion to Major and a guaranteed promotion to Lieutenant Colonel within two years if he stuck around. That meant a bigger paycheck and added security for his family.

Family? What the hell was that? Twice divorced and the father of one boy, Verrill Derwit was the less than proud custodian of two large alimony payments and, until a few years ago, one large child support payment. He hadn't heard from either of his ex-wives in over five years. And his son? Well last he'd heard his son had just graduated university last year. Or was that two years ago? Three? He couldn't remember.

A reflected blaster bolt impacted just over his head bringing him back to reality. Ulcom and Alston had made their escape down the stairs, but the male Jedi had moved his position in an attempt to cut Hazloc and himself off from making the same escape. The stormtroopers were keeping up enough pressure to keep him from totally blocking the last escape route, but Derwit sensed that it wouldn't be long before they could no longer do so. If he and Hazloc didn't make their escape by then, they never would.

Being a logistics officer, it had been second nature to him to study the attack and defense strategies of his enemies and he did so now. The male and female Jedi seemed to be working together in perfect unison. When he pressed his attack, she adopted a defensive posture and he did the same when she pressed an attack. They always seemed to know what the other was going to do, even though they actually hardly spoke a word to one another. It was like they were connected somehow. And for Derwit and Hazloc to escape, that connection needed to be disrupted.

_Main Security Station_

"I understand their making a break for it Dahlgen, but I can't do a whole lot about it right at this second!" Katya shouted into her comlink. Dahlgen had informed her that the ranking Imperials were escaping down the emergency stairs. Unfortunately, with Katya and Cronus pinned down by enemy fire, there was little they could do to prevent their escape.

TK7650 had launched his pincer attack plan and initially met with some success, driving Katya and Cronus to their current positions. However, the troopers hadn't counted on the Lethan Twi'lek Jedi and the elderly Weequay to be able to fortify their positions. Now they were all locked in a stalemate that seemed like it would drag on for quite some time.

Even the regular watch commander's confidence was bolstered by the turn of events and he'd made some half-amusing remark about there truly being nothing to worry about. TK7650 would settle up with him later. Right now, his duty was to eliminate all enemies of the Empire and he was determined to carry it out.

"Give it up you two," TK7650 called out. "You're surrounded and you can't escape. Surrender and you will not be harmed."

Katya knew the trooper was lying. Stormtroopers had standing orders to kill any Jedi they came across, whether they surrendered or not. Quickly assessing the situation, she verified that there were three troopers off to her left and four others including the stormtrooper commander directly ahead of her. She turned to Cronus nearby and he acknowledged her hand signals. "Why don't you come over here and disarm us yourself bucket brain?" Katya taunted.

TK7650 couldn't help but laugh, a rarity for a stormtrooper. He somewhat admired the Twi'lek's spunk. Maybe he didn't have to kill her and could keep her as his very own dancing girl. Yeah, right. How the hell would he do that? "Very droll little girl. We will do so if that is what you wish. But it would be far easier on all of us if you just surrendered now."

"Blow it out your exhaust vent bucket brain!" Cronus impolitely returned.

TK7650's patience was wearing thin. "Enough of this! This is your last warning! There's only two of you and seven of us. Do you really think you a chance of taking us all down?"

He never saw the feral smile that spread across Katya's features. "Nope, but I think we can even up the odds a bit." She spoke. "HK… engage according to protocol seven five."

It was then that TK7650, the watch commander and the other two troopers finally noticed the spatial distortion behind them. They could only watch in stunned fascination as the stealth shield came down, blue electrical energy licking all around the frame of the huge copper assassin droid. It had a head like a mantis insect and blazing red eyes and in its extended arm, a T-21 Light Repeater was held as steady as a durasteel beam.

"**Statement:** Surrender this Imperial meatbag!"

HK-87 pulled the trigger. At nearly point blank range the heavy blaster fire punched through TK7650's helmet as if it was paper, splattering the inside of it with blood and matter. An updated model of Revan's own HK-47 droid, HK-87 had been constructed by Dahlgen Luzard from the original droid's own design specs. Yet the droid was outfitted with more modern hardware and software packages making him every bit a worthy successor to Revan's original.

Frantically the watch commander turned to engage the new threat, but HK beat him to the trigger. Both the watch commander and the one other trooper writhed on the floor in agony as they died under a long stream of continual fire. The second trooper managed to avoid the murderous onslaught long enough to charge forward and slam the butt of his weapon into HK's head. It glanced off with a loud clang and the trooper seemed shocked that his attack hadn't had any effect at all on the droid.

HK calmly turned to face the stunned trooper. "**Egotistical Boast:** As you can see meatbag, my chassis is armored far beyond the specifications of any contemporary droid." He saw the trooper's fingers tensing around the trigger of his weapon. "**Observation:** A mistake that you will not live to regret." Before the trooper could comprehend what was happening, HK smacked the trooper across the head with the barrel of his own weapon, then shot the dazed trooper, killing him instantly.

"**Smug Statement:** You would've already known you were doomed if your cranium contained a brainium."

HK's sudden appearance had the desired effect… the remaining three troopers turned their full attention to the droid. That gave Katya just enough time to use Saber Throw and neatly decapitate the stormtrooper sergeant. By the time the final two troopers knew what had happened, Cronus had shot them both.

"You clear over there HK?" Katya asked.

"**Observation:** There are no more Imperial meatbags in this area Mistress Katya. None that are alive anyway. **Irritated Declaration:** However, I was hoping for more chances to test my new combat and assassination protocols."

A thunderous explosion detonated three floors above them, shaking the three of them about. Katya glanced up at the ceiling, then over at Cronus and finally back at the droid. "You may just get your wish HK. That didn't sound good at all."

Dahlgen turned to face a stormtrooper that had foolishly moved way too close to the Jedi. With viciously deceptive grace, Dahlgen whirled his weapon around his body and neatly impaled the trooper on it before he knew where the attack was coming from. "Malignant grace" was a term often used to describe the Juyo form, one of two lightsaber forms that Dahlgen preferred to use despite being well versed in nearly dozen forms of lightsaber combat. The hallmark of the style were bold, direct movements by the practitioner that were described as more open and kinetic but less elaborate than Ataru. As such it was also one of the most physically demanding styles to learn.

For thousands of years the Jedi Order shunned and rigorously controlled the practice of Juyo as it was considered to be wild, unpredictable and a preferred form of many dark side users. But in this day and age when the Jedi were branded as outlaws and discovery meant almost certain execution, Dahlgen had found the unpredictability of the style worked very much to his advantage.

As a youngling at the Jedi Temple, Dahlgen had expressed interest in learning the Juyo style. However, his attempts to learn it were initially rebuffed by Master Cin Drallig, the master lightsaber combat instructor of the day. Only on Master Yoda's advice did Master Drallig relent and begin to show young Dahlgen the complexities and unpredictability of the form. Dahlgen had found the form almost natural to him and by the end of the Clone Wars, he was considered to be one of the top Juyo practitioners of the Order despite his young age.

"Look out!" Dawna leaped towards him.

Major Derwit played his trump card, flinging a frag grenade across the room that landed near Dawna. Instinctively, she reacted exactly how Derwit had expected her to… by throwing herself at Dahlgen in a desperate attempt to shield him from the blast as the explosive erupted in a deafening roar. Several shards of burning shrapnel tore into Dawna's back as her body collided with Dahlgen's and they tumbled to the floor.

"Now's our chance. Go!" Derwit fired off a couple of more pot shots as he and Moff Hazloc retreated to the stair and made their escape, leaving the remaining troops under their command to their fate.

Dazed by the blast, Dahlgen shook his head to find Dawna's limp form lying on top of him. "Dawna?" It was then that his saw the small trickle of blood leaking from her mouth and he shook her by head. "Dawna!" His Sith friend didn't respond and he tried shaking her by the shoulders. "DAWNA!"

With a feral scream of rage, Dahlgen rolled Dawna's unconscious form off of him. Spinning to his own feet, his eyes ablaze and his face twisted in fury, Dahlgen spun his double saber about his body and settled into the opening stance of his other preferred style of combat. A style so brutal and perilously close to the dark side, only a handful of Jedi had ever dared to try to learn the style. A style that embraced a concept that typical orthodox Jedi shunned… the concept of total war.

The style of Akaan.

Developed millennia earlier by Lord Revan as his own personal style of Juyo and dubbed by him as _Way of the Basilisk_ or _The_ _Attrition Form_, Akaan was the Mando'a word for "War" and its name suited the style in every way imaginable. Revan had used the style with tremendous effectiveness during the Mandalorian Wars and it was merely one of a near limitless supply of reasons why the Mandalorians had feared him. Its usage required an incredible amount of physical strength and a barely contained explosion of Force power within the user.

But Akaan was more than just a collection of saber attacks, parries and ripostes. It was a state of mind that led the practitioner through the shadowy edges of the dark side, requiring the user to enjoy the fight and relish the satisfaction of winning. When faced with an extreme dark side user, a practitioner of Akaan would also draw on the fury of their opponent, turning their own anger and rage against them.

Akaan had been outlawed by the Jedi Order almost as soon as Revan had developed it, though he continued to use it for the remainder of his known life. Over the years, Akaan had fallen into annals of mystery and folklore, though there was an unconfirmed rumor that Master Mace Windu had borrowed several aspects of Akaan when developing his style of Vaapad… it also being a variation of Juyo. In all of recorded history, only one other had ever been confirmed to use the style of Akaan. That was none other than Darth Malak, Revan's former friend turned Dark Lord of the Sith. Whether or not he had ever taught anyone else the style was lost to history.

But now, in an office building on a planet best known for its wild parties and pleasurable atmosphere, Revan's descendant used the style with all the skill of the master who had created it. Dahlgen spun his double saber around and brought it to a guard position. In a measured tone, he addressed the troopers. "By the hand of the Revanchist, come meet your fate."

Without waiting for the stormtroopers to renew their assault, Dahlgen raised his hand and unleashed the power of Force Blast. Sometimes called Force Flash or Force Blind, Force Blast resulted in a blinding flash of light and loud bang designed to overload the senses of multiple adversaries for a brief period. This was most often used as a prelude to an escape, but sometimes… such as now… it provided a useful distraction while setting up an assault.

With the stormtroopers' visual scanners and auditory sensors temporarily overloaded, Dahlgen was upon them in less than a heartbeat, driving one blade straight down through the helmet of a dazed trooper, then suddenly swinging the second up and eviscerating the trooper with a _sai tok_ attack. Bent on ending the battle quickly, Dahlgen didn't waste any more time with the lifeless corpse as he turned to his next target… a trooper with his hands clamped to his ears. Spinning his weapon like a buzzsaw, Dahlgen employed a _mou kai _style attack that sawed off both of the trooper's arms. Dahlgen then whipped the blade to the left and finished him off with a _sai cha_ decapitation strike before he could scream. In the days of the old Jedi Order, decapitating strikes were generally used for droids or the most dangerous of sentient beings. A user of Akaan was taught to cast these traditions aside as they were trained to exploit whatever target zone was open… not for what was "proper."

Trooper three never knew what hit him as Dahlgen hurled his weapon at him with the power of Saber Throw. As the double saber left his hand, a fourth trooper blindly tried to shoot Dahlgen but was instead, hit by a Force Wave. It sent the luckless Imperial bucket-head flying across the room and he impacted the far wall near the stairs with a sickening crack. Force seizing a nearby stone statue of Emperor Palpatine, Dahlgen hurled the giant rock sculpture at the trooper crushing his helmet and head under the statue's weight.

Dahlgen's thrown saber did its work to trooper three, neatly sawing his head off and hovering over the body for a few seconds before being summoned back. While it traveled, the fifth trooper left behind fired several shots at Dahlgen, only to witness his true power as he raised his hands and blocked each one in rapid succession. Sensing danger behind him, Dahlgen dove to his left as a shot from behind him narrowly missed his head. Flipping hands over feet, he landed in a kneeling position and caught his flying saber. Sweeping it to his right, he sliced the legs off trooper six who had tried to shoot him in the back. The sudden amputation caused the trooper to drop straight down and he landed on his face where he was finished off by Dahlgen plunging his double saber through the trooper's spine, then withdrawing it and whirling it around to employ yet another _sai cha_.

Trooper five realized he couldn't hope to take Dahlgen down with a ranged weapon so he discarded his blaster and drew a vibrosword that hung at his side. Through his clearing vision, he could see that Dahlgen was on the floor and facing away from him. His years of training at the Academy had told him that the Jedi were weak and inferior to the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps, the "greatest fighting unit the galaxy had ever seen." With all the bravado and arrogance bred of a stormtrooper he charged forward, his blade raised high above his head.

It was an attack doomed to failure as Dahlgen suddenly turned to face the charging trooper. His lightsaber spun in a deadly arc across the trooper's face, instantly removing his arms and his eyes. There was a brief second where the trooper shrieked with burning pain, abruptly silenced when Dahlgen pivoted around and drove one of his blades up through the trooper's groin. He then ensured the trooper's death by withdrawing his blade and making a fast downward cut, slicing the trooper open from shoulder to hip.

Only two stormtroopers were left now, one of which had his life brutally interrupted and brought to a sudden end as Dijas's sniper shot from the park blasted him in the back. Facing directly at his final opponent, Dahlgen deflected two shots away from himself before using the Force Throw to rip the blaster from the final trooper's grasp. Before the trooper could react Dahlgen was upon him, sweeping both blades across the face of his adversary, destroying the faceplate of his helmet and tearing off his jawbone in the process. He then immediately went into a _shun_ and drove a Force-assisted punch into the trooper's midsection.

The attack had the desired effect as the trooper's chest plate and several ribs broke under the power of the blow and several of his internal organs were permanently traumatized as well. But the coup de grace was that the power generated by the blow lifted the trooper off his feet and sent him careening into a transparisteel window several meters behind him.

The window shattered on impact and the trooper not-so-gracefully descended ten stories to the street. His body sailed right past the guard house and crashed head first into the drive section of a repulsorcar limousine. Its driver had just turned down the avenue and was unaware of the raging battle happening right in front of him. What was left of the trooper's armor shattered and flew in all directions upon impact with the vehicle. With the car's drive system damaged beyond repair, it slammed down into the pavement bouncing its occupants all over the vehicle's interior. As the vehicle skidded to a stop, several Zeltrons in various states of dress slowly emerged, dazed from the shock of what had just happened. Upon seeing the shooting however, they panicked and ran from the scene in terror. A few of them pointed up at the top floor of the Mobquet Swoop Building.

On the top floor of the building, a snarling Dahlgen scanned the area for more opponents and he allowed himself a grim smile of triumph when he sensed none. His breathing labored, Dahlgen deactivated his double saber and allowed himself to calm down. Closing his eyes he focused on the peace and tranquility of the Zeltrons throughout the city him rather than the chaos and death immediately around him. It was difficult under the circumstances, but not impossible.

Slowly, he sank to his knees and bowed his head, reaching into the calmness of the Force to regain control of his breathing. He glanced over the bodies of the slain troops and regretted that he'd had to dispatch them in such a brutal way. The truth was, the only difference between an Akaan master and a bloodthirsty killer was that an Akaan master used his anger in an extremely measured capacity, but still managed to keep a lid on a desire to dominate. Sometimes the line between one and the other was so fine, it was impossible to see. Dahlgen prayed he would never cross over to the wrong side, and he felt that as long as he had Revan and Malak as examples of both extremes, he at least had the education that they didn't. _May the Force forgive me for what I have had to do here today._

Dawna! He'd nearly forgotten about her! She was wounded and needed his help! Dahlgen didn't want to even think about how badly she had been hurt by the grenade blast. Moff Hazloc and the officer who'd thrown the grenade were nowhere to be seen too. That damned Imperial major! If he ever caught up to that crud he'd…

He'd let the Force decide and face him in the true spirit of the Jedi and his family. Plotting murder was not the Jedi way nor was it the legacy of his ancestors. Most importantly though, it wasn't Dahlgen's way. He tried to stand, but stumbled and fell to the floor as he tried to move towards Dawna. The problem with Akaan was that unless a practitioner was a true master of the style, one tended to be extremely winded once the fight was over. Revan's spirit had once told him that there had to be a way to combat this fatigue, but in all his years of life, he'd never found it. For years Dahlgen had subconsciously desired to find that missing link. But that would have to wait.

Dawna lay motionless on the floor as Dahlgen crawled to her. He checked her for a pulse, terrified of what he might potentially discover.

_In the Stairwell_

Years of easy living and outlandish food consumption caught up with Moff Stefan Ulcom in a hurry. He'd only managed to get down four stories by the time Moff Hazloc passed him on the stairwell. Ulcom had caught part of some sneering comment about a "lazy fool" as Hazloc disappeared around a corner further down. Even Lieutenant Alston had left him behind. That was an act that Ulcom was going to severely punish her for if he could. Low ranking officers just did not leave members of important families behind without good reason. And even then it was inexcusable.

Ulcom was busy catching his breath and thinking about the myriad of ways in which he could punish the young Lieutenant Alston when Major Derwit hustled up behind him and began ushering him down the stairs again. "When we get back to… *huff, huff*… Mandalore major… *huff*… I want to file a disciplinary action against that female lieutenant on Hazloc's staff."

Derwit wasn't sure he'd heard that correctly. "Excuse me sir?"

"That girl left me here all by myself major," Ulcom complained.

"Who? Lieutenant Alston?"

Ulcom nodded. "That's the one major. What she did is unforgivable and she clearly must be made into an example. You do not leave people of my status to face Rebel assassins and terrorists on their own."

Derwit offered a more plausible explanation that he hoped would placate his superior, at least for the time being. "Perhaps she was just scouting ahead to ensure that our escape path was clear? After all sir, we have no idea just how many Rebels are here in the building with us."

"I will not listen to, nor will I tolerate any excuses major," Ulcom managed to snort despite his labored breathing. "I am a member of the Yularen family…"

_Hiding behind your family's name as always_, Derwit thought.

"… entitles me to special consideration when faced with a difficult situation, such as this one." Ulcom recited his ludicrous rhetoric as if it was engraved in stone somewhere important.

"What is it you are saying sir?"

Ulcom nearly lost his temper. "I'm saying that in a situation such as this, I would expect her to throw herself between me and the Rebels! I am the leader of the Mandalore Sector whereas she is mere lieutenant fresh from the academy. She can easily be replaced if it is warranted."

Derwit rolled his eyes as this was a new low, even for Ulcom. In Derwit's mind no one was expendable because everyone was unique. What talents one might possess might not be possessed by whoever or whomever replaced them if that individual was lost. He shook his head in disgust. Obviously the plausible approach hadn't worked, so now he decided to try the practical. "With all due respect to your status sir, may I remind you that Lieutenant Alston is a member of Moff Hazloc's staff, not yours. Her talents could be vital to the success of Project Epsilon. If you take any sort of any disciplinary action against her now it could result in weeks, if not months, of delays to a project that has been delayed by several weeks already. What is going to be your excuse to His Majesty if he starts asking questions?"

Moff Ulcom didn't seem to give a whit about the possible consequences. "Bah. I don't care major. Project Epsilon is a waste of time anyway and only a fool would believe that such a device will actually work. One less person on the staff is not going to make a difference in the outcome of the project. Once His Majesty realizes just how foolish this Project Epsilon venture is, he and the Imperial Court will listen to my arguments about the _Lancer_ class frigate. And then they will realize that my theories regarding it are true. I will be heard and elevated to Grand Moff for my vision and expertise."

_Expertise at what? Bitching and moaning?_ Again, Verrill Derwit tried to appeal to Moff Ulcom's sensibilities. "But sir, if you'll just consider…"

Moff Ulcom stopped running and turned around in part to chew Derwit out, but mostly to catch his breath again. "Major… I sincerely hope you are not trying to be insubordinate because I would hate to have to seek disciplinary action against you as well. My mind is made up about this. If those who do not do what is expected of them by those appointed above them then they are entitled to get exactly what they deserve."

Major Derwit couldn't believe what he was hearing. The Empire had already poured tens of millions of credits and thousands of hours of research and development into this project. Not to mention the cost in terms of lives lost not only on Hazloc's staff, but on Ulcom's as well. Derwit knew details… details he wasn't supposed to know about the project but that he'd made himself privy to over the course of the last few months. He was actually surprised that Ulcom hadn't called him out on his knowledge of the fact that the project was already way behind schedule. But he supposed Ulcom hadn't truly been listening either.

The highest levels of the Empire were expecting something tangible on this project soon and if their combined resources failed to deliver up to that expectation… well, the spice mines of Kessel would probably be preferable compared to whatever fate awaited them. Before leaving Mandalore, Derwit had even received a message that the Empire was sending a special emissary to get the project back on track and ensure its completion. In Derwit's experience, that meant only one thing… extra and unwanted trouble. Wherever the Empire's emissaries went, bad things usually followed.

Ulcom had regarded the news about the emissary's arrival with a casual laugh and a wave of dismissal. The arrogant fool had actually believed that he was superior to any emissary sent on behalf of the Emperor. Whoever the emissary was would already be displeased at Project Epsilon's lack of progress and now with Ulcom threatening to needlessly tie up resources in a pointless disciplinary action could very well be enough to ensure the emissary had them all reassigned somewhere considerably less appealing than their current stations… or worse.

In his two decades of service, Derwit had been a model soldier. He had never shirked his duty, sang the praises of the Empire to anyone would listen, held the men and women under his command accountable for their actions, yet in high esteem when they did their jobs right. He'd always paid proper respect to those appointed over him and never once thought about undermining that chain of command. But as he thought more and more about the potential consequences of what Moff Ulcom was planning to do, the situation became intolerable for the major. What Derwit was thinking went against everything he had been trained to believe in. And the consequences of going down this path could one day be fatal for him. There would be no going back. For the briefest of seconds, cold fear gripped the major like a weak man staring at a hungry rancor. But thinking back to his days as a young logistics officer on Brentaal IV, and the grizzled old colonel who'd taken him under his wing, he recalled something that the old man had once told him.

_Sometimes for the body to survive, it has to lose a limb._

Derwit heard a door be dashed open several floors above them and he knew their pursuers were in the stairwell. He had to act fast. To ensure the completion of Project Epsilon and the destruction of the Rebellion, it was a risk he felt was worth taking.

Moff Ulcom faced away from his adjutant. "Do we have an understanding major?"

The next time Derwit spoke his voice was deceptively calm. "You know sir, you are absolutely right. People should get exactly what they deserve."

"I'm glad you finally see it my way major."

"Including you. After all, one less person on the staff really won't make a difference on the outcome of the project."

Ulcom turned to ask Derwit what he was talking about and his eyes went wide in horror as he realized what was about to happen.

Derwit fired his blaster once. The energy bolt slammed into Moff Ulcom's throat, instantly cauterizing the jugular vein as it was severed. Ulcom lunged forward and clawed at Derwit's face and arms in a desperate attempt to save his already doomed life. Derwit fired again, this energy bolt burning through Moff Ulcom's heart. Ulcom vomited blood as he sank to his knees, some of which stained the front of the major's otherwise pristine uniform.

With an expression as tranquil as the grasslands on Naboo, Major Derwit placed the muzzle of his blaster against the dying Moff's temple and fired one more time. The final shot turned Ulcom's brains to a sizzling hot mush and ended his suffering forever. Satisfied he was dead, Derwit gave the Moff's rapidly cooling corpse a kick and it tumbled unceremoniously down the next flight of stairs.

Katya and Cronus reached the scene just in time to witness Major Derwit fire the final shot into Moff Ulcom's brain. The Twi'lek woman's eyes widened in horror as her brain fought to comprehend what her eyes had just witnessed. The Imperial Major… he'd… he'd just murdered his superior! She watched in stunned silence as the major kicked the Moff's dead body further down the stairs. Her initial instinct was to rush down the stairs and cut the major in half, then do whatever she could to save the Moff's life, but deep down, she knew it was already too late for him. And at the moment her legs refused to move.

In the end, the only response she got from her body was from her mouth. "What the… hey!"

Major Derwit turned and fired back up the stairs at the pair. Katya was just able to get her lightsaber up to block the shots when he lobbed a flash grenade at her. They were both barely able to dive out of the way as the device exploded, the roar inside the enclosed stairwell near deafening.

Cronus recovered first and moved to check on Katya. She shook her head several times to get the ringing in her ears to stop. "Are you hurt Katya?"

Katya slapped herself in the head several times as she continued to try to clear the ringing sound in her head and ears. Many Jedi would've commented just how foolish her gesture was, but as long as she believed the pounding helped clear her head and stop unwanted sounds, it did. "I'm fine." She scrambled to her feet and peered down the stairs again, but Derwit had already fled. She turned to the droid. "Dahlgen is not going to like this one bit."

"That could very well be the understatement of the year."

Words alone couldn't describe how relived Dahlgen was when he felt Dawna still had a pulse. It was faint and her breathing was very shallow. "C'mon Dawna, stay with me here," he prodded as he rolled her onto her back.

Placing his hands on her chest, Dahlgen closed his eyes and allowed the life giving currents of the Force to envelop him. As he began to feel its wild energy course through his veins, he recalled the lesson that Master Zaitsev had taught him about healing others. _Use yourself as a conduit. Channel the Force's energy into that which needs its benefit._

Sensing the places in her body that had suffered the most trauma from the blast, Dahlgen targeted those areas and let the Force's healing energy flow. He felt her physical pain and suffering and Dahlgen allocated a portion of his healing efforts to relieve it. Dahlgen felt her fear as well and tried to reassure her that he was doing his best to help.

His efforts seemed to be for nothing however as the Force energy he transferred to Dawna would surround her wounds, only to fall through them like water rushing down a drain. _Damn, her wounds are more serious than I thought._ Focusing harder, Dahlgen intensified his attempts to heal them. The heightened Force energy continued to pour into Dawna, but much to Dahlgen's surprise it just as quickly rushed out of her.

_Please Force, do not fail me now_. Dahlgen briefly opened his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm his own anxious psyche. Once more he closed his eyes and let the Force flow into Dawna's wounded body. But no matter how hard he worked, he could only watch helplessly as the aid he was trying to give her rushed from her body as quickly as he gave it to her.

_I… I'm losing her. She's dying. I can't… I can't allow this to happen. Not now. Not again._

"Dahlgen…"

_What's that? Who's there?_

"Dahlgen, look at me."

Dahlgen opened his eyes again and found that he was no longer kneeling on the cold floor of the Mobquet Swoop Building. Rather he was kneeling in the soft, fine white sand of an empty beach. The calm waters of the ocean lapped the shore line in front of him and on either side of him, the beach stretched as far as the eye could see.

Fascinated by his new surroundings, Dahlgen slowly got to his feet and brushed the sand off his palms. He surveyed his environment as he listened to the gentle waves crash on the shoreline and he noticed that the beach he currently stood on was surrounded by the ocean on one side and jagged, rocky cliffs on the other. The only exception was a sandy path that led through the rock formations behind him. Where it went, he had no idea. The pleasant scent of saltwater wafted through his nostrils and he took a deep breath. The sun was warm and felt good against his skin. Looking up in the sky, he saw that whatever planet he was on now was orbited by a moon large enough to cover a significant portion of the sky even in daylight. And he then asked the obvious question to no one in particular.

"Where in the hell am I?"

"You know where you are Dahlgen," a female voice told him. "Or have you bloody well forgotten your family's history already?"

Though Dahlgen had never actually been there before, thanks to hours upon hours of studying his family's legacy and archives, he did indeed recognize the Rakatan home world of Lehon.

He turned in the direction where the female voice had spoken from and saw a woman quietly standing and waiting for him to speak. She was of medium build and had one of the most unique hairstyles he had ever seen on a woman. Though anyone could tell that her hair was naturally long, most of what would've normally fallen down her back was tied into a flat bun that rested on top of her head. What was left was tied into two small tails that swayed freely at the rear corners of her head and stray wisps framed her smooth, oval face. The woman appeared to be completely human save for the faint bluish tint that surrounded her entire being. Even with this unique tint, she had the bluest eyes of anyone Dahlgen had ever seen and though she wore a pleasant smile, there was an unmistakable sternness in her stare.

"Master Bastila…" Dahlgen bowed slightly to her.

Bastila Shan exhaled sharply. "Dahlgen, you do not need to call me Master. You are my descendant after all."

"What do you suggest I call you then," Dahlgen inquired, the sarcasm in his voice a little too obvious. "Calling you mother seems a little ridiculous."

Bastila raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to one side. "Perhaps. But then, why not? As I just said, you are descended from me. In a way, I am your mother just as in a way, Revan is your father." A pleasant smile appeared on her features. "After all, if Revan and I hadn't fallen in love so long ago, you and every generation that came before you would not exist."

Dahlgen opened his mouth to respond, but Bastila waved him off. "This isn't the time to discuss family matters of this sort. There are more pressing things to attend to."

"Yes there are," Dahlgen agreed. "So why then, am I here? How did I suddenly end up on Lehon?"

Bastila laughed. "You really don't believe that you're actually on Lehon, do you?"

Dahlgen realized the absurdity of his question and a sheepish grin appeared on his face. "No I suppose not."

"Of course not, and if you truly did believe that, then I'd begin to question why Revan holds you in such high regard. More than any other of our descendants that came before you." Bastila spread her arms wide. "This is the Force Dahlgen. I can't fully explain it, but your distressed state of mind allowed it to travel here."

"Why here though? Why Lehon?"

"That I cannot answer either." Bastila told him honestly. "But if you choose to look at from a rather absurd point of view, Lehon is… in a way… where "it all began" for your family's legacy."

Dahlgen considered her words and pursed his lips. "I suppose so," he finally said. "But if my mind is here, where am I physically?"

"Well where do you think it is Dahlgen? Your physical body is still on Zeltros and you are still trying to save the life of your lady friend."

Dahlgen folded his arms. "Dawna is not my lady friend."

Bastila gave him a look that clearly told him she didn't believe a word he'd just said. "Oh no? Then why is your stomach so tied up in knots at the thought of losing her?" She waved her hand dismissively at him. "You don't have to answer that Dahlgen. There will be challenges along the way to be sure. But I already know what the answer is even if you're too stubborn to admit it even to yourself."

Dahlgen wasn't sure if he was more surprised that he had no answer for Bastila's question or relieved that he didn't have to answer it. Either way, any answer he could've come up with at that moment would not have been believable by Bastila and quite possibly himself. He found Bastila's knowledge of his deepest thoughts a bit discomforting to say the least. "I… I can't lose her Bastila. If I am forced to go through this kind of trauma again, I'd just as soon hang up my lightsaber and forget I was ever a Jedi."

"You won't have to Dahlgen, but you must listen to me closely," Bastila insisted. She then thrust her finger towards his face. "And as for your lightsaber… don't you bloody dare forget that Revan crafted that weapon for me and it contains some very special jewels. It's only through the Force's grace that you're even able to ignite the blade, much less wield it."

Dahlgen bowed his head. "Forgive me Bastila. I did not mean to shame Lord Revan's legacy."

"Forget it Dahlgen. At the moment it's not important." She interlaced her fingers behind her back. "Now then, what's the trouble?"

Dahlgen signed heavily and stared his ancestor's spirit in the eye. "If you are here with me Bastila, then you already know what's going on. I'm trying to heal Dawna but my attempts are failing. If I do not succeed soon, she will die. Her wounds are serious Bastila, but I have successfully healed wounds much more serious than hers."

"And why the bloody hell do you think you're having so much trouble now?"

Dahlgen was reluctant to answer. "I… I don't' know."

"I think you do."

Dahgen frowned for a moment and finally spread his arms slightly. "All right, my emotional state is twisted up as you have already seen. I'm not as calm as I should be."

"True," Bastila said with a curt nod. "But in the grand scheme of things, your emotional upheaval is not to be unexpected and it is but a small portion of much larger pie."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's nothing essentially wrong with your technique Dahlgen, but you are not doing enough." She transferred her hands to her hips. "You're doing everything that you were taught by Master Zaitsev about healing. That means you're trying to heal Dawna the way any other drone of the Jedi Council would do. But what you're not doing, is healing her the way someone of your family… your bloodline… would heal her."

"I don't follow you," Dahlgen said with a shake of his head.

"All right then, let me ask you a couple of questions," Bastila remarked. "How long have you known Dawna? And have you ever healed her in the past?"

"I've known her six years and no, I've never healed her before." Dahlgen stated flatly. "You know that Bastila."

His "mother's" eyes narrowed slightly. "Really? Are you absolutely certain about that?"

"Of course I am."

"Interesting," Bastila remarked. "If that's true, why did you feel so comfortable six years ago when you offered her a ride, so to speak? You'd only known her a couple of days and as any of your friends will say, you're not the kind of person to offer trust without good reason."

"I…"

"And later, why did you offer to train her seemingly out of the blue? And then offer her a post as a permanent member of your team. If you'll recall Dahlgen, you did all that for her after knowing her less than a week."

"Yes that's true," Dahlgen admitted. "But I don't know why. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"And let's not forget what species Dawna is. Though we may not like to say it out loud, she is a Sith. Though I will be the first to say she almost the exact opposite of any Sith I've ever come across, pureblood or otherwise. Your friends thought you had nearly lost your mind at the time. A Jedi offering a ride and training to Sith. Ha… in their shoes, I would've though the same thing about you. Even your son briefly questioned your judgment. So then why Dahlgen? Why out of the trillions upon trillions of beings in the galaxy, was it her? Why was it a near pureblood Sith that you did all this for?" Bastila encouraged him to look deeper. "Concentrate Dahlgen. Go back trough your life, through every memory, good and bad. You'll find something rather surprising if you do."

Dahlgen closed his eyes and did as he was instructed. He went back over his entire existence, over everything he possibly could. He went over things that brought him a great deal of jot and other things that still troubled him to this day. Desperately he searched for whatever it was Bastila wanted him to find. There had to be something there. Something he'd missed. Otherwise why would she be grilling him like this. What was it? What was he missing? Dahlgen shrugged. "I don't know Bastila. I don't know what you expect me to find."

"Don't follow your memories alone Dahlgen," Bastila counseled. "Follow the Force. Let it guide you to those events."

Dahlgen took a deep breath and focused his thoughts. When the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own breathing, he went over it all again. And in seconds, he once again found himself standing alone on the battlefields of Christophsis. The Separatists were attacking the landing zone where he and Master Zaitsev had been evacuating civilians and the casualties were mounting. He'd already loaded his wounded master and several others on. It was full now. But he wanted to load more casualties. There were so many around him. As much as he wanted to, the transport just wasn't going to be able to take the added strain of more weight. So he waved it off.

But Dahlgen stayed. There were still dozens of wounded and stranded people on that landing zone. People that needed protection from the relentless Separatist onslaught. And Dahlgen was the only thing standing between them and oblivion. Artillery shells whistled over their heads, exploding nearby and raining rock, dirt and other debris over everyone. Battle droids were converging on the landing zone and AAT tanks provided them with covering fire as they moved to mop up whoever was left.

Slicing through the head of one battle droid that had gotten too close, Dahlgen found a discarded comlink and used it to summon Republic artillery fire to the battle zone. Good, good. The tide of the battle finally began to turn against the Separatists. With the Separatist tanks and artillery guns now being shredded by the Republic's artillery, the battle droids no longer had the advantage of fire support.

Dahlgen went on the offensive. Keeping his body in constant motion, he methodically cut down the droids one at a time. A few of the locals still trapped on the landing zone but armed with personal weapons, helped out by shooting down other droids that were out of Dahlgen's range. And then… Dahlgen heard a sound. What was it? The incessant roar of the battle was almost too much, but he'd heard it. What was it?

There. A child crying. Dahlgen cursed himself. He thought he'd gotten all the children out of the area, but apparently not. Sending another droideka to the slag pile, he ran towards where he believed the source of the crying was coming from. The smoke was thick and Dahlgen coughed as it nearly overcame him. Tapping into the Force, he desperately tried to pinpoint the life sign that beckoning to him. Searching… searching. And then, as the smoke cleared from yet another artillery blast, he found it.

A baby. A near-human baby. With red skin… and yellow eyes.

The child couldn't have been more than two years old. It was shrieking in pain, its mother still clutching the child protectively. Yet tragically the mother was already dead. Dahlgen then saw that the child had a nasty bleeding wound on its belly and its intestines were beginning to spill out. A wound like that was sure to be lethal if he didn't do something immediately to help the poor little thing.

Scooping the child up, Dahlgen raced to relatively safe cover of a blown out building. There he'd tried to calm the young child as he began to work. "There, there young one," he'd said to child. "Calm down. I know it hurts, but you're going to be fine. I'll help you."

The Dahlgen of the present opened his eyes and looked at Bastila in utter shock. "I'd totally forgotten about that. That red-skinned baby I found… it was… it was Dawna!"

Bastila offered him a warm, motherly smile. "There you have it."

"I never looked at the child closely. I always assumed the child was male," Dahlgen admitted. "Did she grow up on Christophsis?"

"No Dahlgen, she didn't," Bastila assured him. "But in the end, what does it matter where she grew up? For whatever reason at that precise moment, in that exact place, your paths crossed. And had you not been there Dahlgen, Dawna would've died as an infant with her mother on those terrible battlefields of Christophsis. But look deeper. There's more to it that just that."

"More?"

"Indeed," Bastila claimed. "Look closer Dahlgen. Feel what happened. And you will have the answer you seek."

Back on Christophsis, Dahlgen had channeled the energy of the Force into the baby Dawna as she drifted in and out of consciousness. He remembered how much pain she had been in and how it had nearly overwhelmed her several times. When he'd started to try to heal her, her thoughts had been jumbled and incoherent, even for a baby. He'd felt Dawna's terror and it had nearly caused him to lose concentration. But he's managed to push on with his healing attempts.

After some time, his efforts seemed to have some effect. Dawna began to calm down and respond better to his treatment. She relaxed more, her crying stopped, he put her intestines back where they belonged, the bleeding stopped, the wound was sealed and her terror was replaced by a soothing calmness that seemed to envelop her entire being. Dahlgen remembered sensing this change in her, though he had been too busy in his efforts for it to really register in his mind. Why did this happen? Why the sudden change in Dawna's demeanor both mentally and physically? Her wounds had left her on the brink of death, yet she was now responding to him as if she had suffered only a minor scratch. Dahlgen even recalled that just before he'd passed out, he'd seen that Dawna's body bore no visual scars of her injuries and she was smiling and as happy as a little baby could be. She was smiling at him. It was as if the injuries never happened. Why? And then he felt it… the slightest tremor of something that he'd infused Dawna with as he worked.

Himself.

His own unique Force essence. Everyone had one, whether they were sensitive to the Force's effects or not. After nearly twenty years, Dahlgen finally remembered he had linked his own Force essence to the Force itself in an effort to heal Dawna. But why had he done such a thing?

_That's easy to figure out_, he told himself. _You did it because it was a baby. And everyone deserves a chance at life, especially a life so new and undeveloped. You couldn't stand to see the child her suffer the way she was. So you did what you had to do in the hopes of calming her down, easing her pain and giving her a chance at life. Looks like you succeeded beyond your wildest expectations._

But that wasn't the only thing Dahlgen suddenly remembered. He remembered Dawna's own Force essence responding to his. Reaching out to it. Linking with it. Fusing with it in such way that so few understood, even within the Jedi order itself. Enmeshing with it so deeply that a unique commonality between them was formed. Two separate essences, yet one essence at the same time. In the more than 25 millennia that the Jedi existed, this occurrence was so rare, few records of it existed. Most of those were nearly 4,000 years old in themselves. And many masters refused to believe that such a thing was possible as it to them it seemed unnatural and born of the dark side of the Force.

Dahlgen's eyes popped open and he stared at Bastila with a disbelieving gaze. She on the other hand, merely offered him a warm smile. "You found it didn't you?"

He could barely find the words. "It's… it's impossible. I'm… _bonded_ with her?"

Bastila's smile grew brighter. "Yes Dahlgen… you are."

"But… how?"

"When you healed her, you left an impression of your own Force signature on her," Bastila explained. "It was not an intentional act, nor was it even a conscious act. But nevertheless, it happened. When it did, it awakened her own sensitivity to the Force and she aided you in her own healing. That's why she's excelled so much at her studies with you. She's had you as a guide in way that she never would've guessed.

"Does she know?"

Bastila shook her head. "No. Her memories of that day are very vague. Almost like nightmares one occasionally experiences as they sleep. She was a toddler after all. And to this day her father has never told her why they were on Christophsis that day, or why they were on Christophsis at all."

Dahlgen was still dumfounded over this revelation and he wasn't sure how to react. "How come I never knew about this before now?"

"Oh I don't know," Bastila replied. "I think you've known you were bonded to her more than you realize. After all, didn't you subconsciously know that she would accept your offer to remain with your crew, even before you asked her? And didn't you have that same feeling when you offered to train her?"

Dahlgen was stunned as he thought back to those long gone days and realized that he had. He couldn't explain why at the time, but he had always somehow known that Dawna would remain with Force Revanchist and learn the ways of the Force from him long before he'd proposed either to her. Now he knew why he had always known. "Yes," he admitted.

"And before you met her on Nar Shaddaa, did a part of you believe every now and again that someone from near human race would have a profound impact on your life?" Bastila continued to quiz him. "Specifically, a female Sith?"

Dahlgen sighed. "Yes. When I first saw her in the Jewel of Kashyyyk, I almost thought I was dreaming. I had to remind myself that the Force works in mysterious ways that even we Jedi do not always understand. Yet I still felt of the puzzle was missing. Now I know what that piece is."

"Now you're getting it," Bastila smiled. The Force does indeed work in mysterious ways Dahlgen. Years ago it brought you and Dawna together and now it has done so again. You cannot turn your back on that Dahlgen, or it will cost you both dearly in the months and years to come."

"But I still don't understand one thing," Dahlgen insisted. "Why now? Why reveal all this now?"

"Because your bond with Dawna is greatly weakened," Bastila informed him. "Like my bond with Revan was after he departed for the Unknown Regions without me. That is because of your forced separation after the Battle of Christophsis. It is no one's fault. She is a Sith and was raised among her own people and their customs as they observe them now, which is far different than even a thousand years ago. You? Well you had a much different upbringing." Bastila shook her head and made a sweeping gesture with her hand. "It doesn't matter now. Your bond with Dawna can be strengthened to a point far beyond what Revan and I ever had. But in order to truly save Dawna you're going to have to breathe new life into that bond between you. It's… for all intents and purposes… sleeping. You must awaken it. In recent years, you have been one of the few constants that Dawna has relied on. Your presence has been a pillar of strength for her, even if she wasn't always aware of it. You used it nearly twenty years ago when you healed her on the battlefields of Christophsis. Use it again now and you will be successful. Believe in yourself, believe in her and believe in the true essence of the light."

Dahlgen's mind suddenly returned to his body and he found himself back on the top floor of the Mobquet Swoop Building. Dawna was sprawled on the floor in front of him and his hands remained on her chest where he had placed them in his attempts to heal her.

For a moment, Dahlgen removed his hands from her and took a long, deep breath. Bastila was right. The only way to save her now was to reinvigorate what had been forged between them more than two decades earlier. Doing so would be a drastic, life altering change for them both. But what other choice did he have? He wasn't about to just sit there and let Dawna die. He closed his eyes readied himself for what was to come. _Okay, Dawna… here we go. I hope you're ready for this._

Once again Dahlgen placed his hands on Dawna's chest and called to Force to help him. It was calmer now. Nowhere near as wild as it had been when he'd first attempted to heal her. As it responded to his command, Dahlgen dove deep within himself to search for his own Force essence, knowing that he would need it if he was to be successful now as he had been years ago.

As every living thing in that ever existed was unique in its looks and mannerisms, so too did every living thing carry a unique resonance within the Force. It was as a unique as a person's signature or fingerprints. No two were alike. That's what Dawna had subconsciously grabbed onto like a beacon of salvation all those years ago. And she would have to grab on to it again now. It was the key to everything.

There it was. With it burning bright as a star, Dahlgen shifted his attention back to the Force itself. Successfully merging his essence with its currents, Dahlgen set about the final step of his task… finding Dawna's essence.

Sifting through the endless ocean of trillions upon trillions of Force essences would seem a daunting task to one who didn't understand the Force. A task that to the uneducated, seemed doomed to either outright failure or take far too much time to be effective. But to one trained in the Force and its near limitless manifestations, it was a relatively simple process. And the better you knew someone in the physical realm, the easier it was to locate them in the depths of the Force.

It therefore, did not take Dahlgen long to locate Dawna's essence; weak and fading fast. It was not what Dahlgen had expected and yet it was. It was different than his, yet somehow it was the same. There was an odd familiarity to it, like a piece of his essence was forever fused with hers and a piece of hers was forever fused with his. Dahlgen knew he didn't have much time. It was now or never.

_Dawna? Dawna, answer me._

Dahlgen did not remember a time when he had felt happier than when he heard her faint, almost non-existent response.

_Dahl… gen?_

_Yes Dawna. I'm here._

_I'm… sorry Dahlgen. So weak… tired._

_It doesn't matter Dawna. You did what you had to do and I am humbled by your gesture. But you can't leave yet Dawna._ His essence reached out to her. _Let me heal you now. Let me ease your pain._

_Maybe… my time… has come Dahlgen._

_Do you truly believe that Dawna? Do you truly believe in your heart of hearts that this is how your life is to end? Here in this building by a lucky grenade blast?_

_I… don't know Dahlgen._

_The what does the Force tell you?_

_I… don't know. The future is always in state of motion, just like you've always said._

_Dawna, listen to me. I can help you. I can help you in ways we never thought possible._

_How Dahlgen?_

_Look at your own Force essence Dawna. Feel it. Discover its hidden secret._

Dawna was taken by surprise. _Dahlgen… what… is this?_

_It's me Dawna. It's a part of me._

_You?!_

_Yes. Now feel my essence Dawna. Sense anything familiar?_

_I sense… how is this possible? I sense… me._

_It's because we are linked Dawna. We are forever linked through the Force. We are bonded._

_Bonded?_

_Yes Dawna, bonded. It would take too much time to explain all this to you now. For the moment just accept that we are two people, yet we have the capacity to think and act as if we are one. I just learned that we shared this, Dawna. I had no idea._

_But… how? Why?_

Dahlgen wanted to tell her the truth. To tell her about how she'd been on Christophsis during the Separatist attack and how he'd healed her when she was near death. But she was in enough distress already and Dahlgen feared telling everything now might send her over the edge. No. Better to leave that story for another day.

_I don't know Dawna. Any reasons I could come up with would only be theories and conjecture._

_It… doesn't feel right Dahlgen. Something's wrong with it._

_You're right Dawna. The connection between us has been disrupted. Possibly from our own lack of knowledge that it was even there in the first place._

_Can it be repaired?_

_Yes it can Dawna. Doing so will save you, but I can't do it alone. I need your help Dawna. Come to me Dawna. Let me heal you. Centuries ago, my ancestors discovered what the power of a link like this can truly bring and what effect it can have on the galaxy. We must now do so again. I've always had your back Dawna as you've always had mine. I'm not about to turn that away, not now. _

_I know Dahlgen. I will help you. I will learn about this bond with you._

With her last bit of strength, Dawna's essence leaped at Dahlgen's and grabbed hold, causing it to blaze with intensity that was unlike anything Dahlgen had ever witnessed before. Normally, when one Force sensitive healed another, their essences would briefly touch, then retreat away when the healing process was complete. But as Dahlgen expected, Dawna's began to weave its way around his own and it didn't surprise Dahlgen one bit as he witnessed them twist, turn and loop around one another so that they became hopelessly entangled.

_You knew this was going to happen didn't you Bastila,_ Dahlgen thought.

_Yes I did._

Their bonding continued with each of them becoming acutely aware of each other's vital signs, senses and mental states. The last vestiges of Dawna's fear and Dahlgen's uncertainty both vanished and were replaced by an overwhelming sensation of tranquility. With their connection now stronger than the finest cortosis armor, the Force bonding of Dahlgen and Dawna was re-forged. Two separate people, yet one in spirit. Two individuals, yet one essence.

Dahlgen slowly opened his eyes and had to steady himself. He felt like blacking out. The whole room was spinning. Dizzy from the mind numbing experience, Dahlgen looked at Dawna and swore he saw her smiling. He was so dazed however, he wouldn't swear to it. An instant before he did black out, Dahlgen found himself wondering if Bastila had experienced this same kind of sensation when her bond with Revan had been forged.

A shock of cold brought Dahlgen Luzard back to his senses. He was soaking wet, his face and chest covered with freezing cold water. He instinctively sucked in a deep breath, inhaled some of the water droplets, and began to cough and sputter profusely. Sitting bolt upright, he spat what little bit of water he could out of his mouth, but his coughing continued. Dahlgen braced himself against the floor and he could feel a hand slapping him in the back. It was hitting him so hard, Dahlgen felt like his lungs were going to be smashed right out of his rib cage. Still sputtering and hacking, Dahlgen waved off whoever was back there.

"**Query:** Are you all right master?" HK asked when he had stopped coughing long enough to hear what was going on around him.

Dahlgen eyed the droid and elected not to bother telling him about the two ribs he suspected were cracked as a result of the pounding his back had taken. "I'm fine HK. Dawna?"

"**Observation: ** The meatbag Dawna is unconscious, but breathing," HK told him. "We detected a blast of some kind up here master and Katya sent me to check on it. **Query: ** May I ask what happened here master?"

Dahlgen ignored the droid's question and moved to check Dawna's pulse. He suddenly stopped himself when he discovered he didn't have to feel her for a pulse. With just a minute amount of concentration, he could actually sense her heart beating. It wasn't anywhere close to a normal rhythm, but it was significantly stronger than it had been just moments earlier. "She's stable, but we need to get her to the Silver Horizon as soon as possible." He prepared himself to carry her when HK stopped him.

"**Warning:** Master, you are still dazed from whatever ordeal you two went through up here. Under the circumstances, I think it is best that I carry her."

That was the best suggestion Dahlgen had heard all day. "Very well HK, good idea." Dahlgen then got on his comlink. "Command to all teams. Escape Plan B is in effect as of now. Repeat… Escape Plan B is in effect as of now."


	3. The Descendant: Chapter 3

**The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 3**

_Mobquet Swoop Building_

_The Front Courtyard_

With the battle having moved from inside the Mobquet Swoop building to the outside vestibule and courtyard, Dannix fired a high explosive rocket from his wrist launcher at the guard house. TK873 and TK5309 were sent running as the small structure disappeared in a fiery blast and they narrowly dodged two more shots from Dijas's sniper perch in the park.

Amidst the tall, cut marble columns of the entryway, Dannix turned his attention back to the T-21 light repeater he'd commandeered from a dead trooper moments earlier, and the Imperials in the parking structure trying to escape. At the moment, only he, Cronus and Gee Tee were holding the vestibule. The others had yet to escape. "What the bloody hell is takin' them so long?" Dannix called out to Cronus.

Cronus kept TK8873 and TK5309's pinned with covering fire. "How the hell am I supposed to know? It was HK who went to see what that blast was!"

"My sensors indicate they are close," Gee Tee spoke confidently as he triggered his blaster in the direction of the ruined guard house. "They'll be here in less than thirty seconds."

"'Bout damned time," Dannix grumbled. "We can't keep this up forever!"

"Need I remind you Dannix about the other low broadband transmissions I picked up a minute ago?" Gee Tee reminded him anyway.

Dannix shook his head, a little exasperated with the droid. That was the third time in less than half a minute he'd said so. Gee Tee was a wonder to be sure, but he was a little paranoid at times and it grated on Dannix's nerves.

Across the street, Dijas put a stormtrooper in the cross hairs of his scope and dropped him with a shot to the head. With Dahlgen's call for Escape Plan B, his job had shifted from simply keeping the guards in the guardhouse busy to actively covering Fore Revanchist's escape from the building. Escape Plan A, the original escape plan, had called for Force Revanchist to observe and record the meeting, wait for the meeting to be adjourned and the Imperials to leave, then regroup on the roof for silent extraction by the _Silver Horizon_. All except Dijas, who was to have met the _Horizon_ later at a pre-arranged location.

That plan was now out the window. Plan B was the 'oh poodoo' plan as certain team members sometimes liked to call it. The plan that went into effect when everything went to hell in a hand basket. Every mission Force Revanchist went on had a plan B, and occasionally even a plan C. In this case, plan B called for direct escape out the nearest available ground floor exit to a pair a repulsor cars that had been planted earlier in the day by Dijas and Cronus for just such an emergency. They would split up and rendezvous with the _Silver Horizon_ wherever it was convenient. Unfortunately in this case, and most others, it also meant direct confrontation with hostile forces.

On the other side, Major Derwit couldn't believe his rotten luck. Upon escaping with Moff Hazloc and Lieutenant Alston to the parking structure, they'd immediately been subjected to intense blaster fire from Dannix Krell and the others with him. On top of that, Derwit had hastily explained to Moff Hazloc a complete fabrication of what had happened to Moff Ulcom, blaming the Rebels for his murder. It wasn't that the idea was not plausible; but now, upon noticing his blood stained uniform, he wondered if Hazloc had truly bought the story.

It was clear to him that Lieutenant Alston had not. The scowl on her face that constantly met his was proof enough. He'd have to find out what she suspected later and possibly do something to placate her as well. At the moment however, the more immediate crisis seemed to just be making it out of this death trap in one piece.

The three Imperial officers had managed to link up with a squad of fourteen stormtroopers that had somehow escaped the devastation inside the building. But now five of them had been taken down and the two repulsor cars they were using for cover were being rapidly turned into scrap by Dannix's light repeater. He wasn't even sure how many assailants were left. There were the two he'd encountered upstairs, the two in the corridor, the Mandalorian here and at least one other… that damned sniper.

Derwit flinched and cursed himself as a shot from that sniper nearly took the top of his head off. Instead it just deposited more glass from the transparisteel window of the repulsor car he and a handful of others were using as cover. Lieutenant Alston looked at him with wide eyed fear. "What do we do Major?"

At the moment, that was a question the Derwit did not want to answer. He shook his head. "I'm not sure."

"What happened?" Dannix asked as he observed HK-87 bring the unconscious Dawna out the front entryway and place her on the ground. Katya and Dahlgen were right with him. Dahlgen moved next to Dannix and assessed the situation. "What the hell happened in there?" Dannix shouted again over the roar of his weapon.

"Grenade blast," Dahlgen answered. "Took several pieces of shrapnel in back." _Saving me._ "She's not in any immediate danger, but we need to get her back to the Horizon fast. I was able to stabilize her, but some medical attention and concentrated Force healing wouldn't hurt either. How we doing here?"

"Same as always, mate." Dannix's answer was sarcastic as usual.

"That bad, huh?," Dahlgen asked. "Give me a sitrep."

"Twelve Impies pinned down behind those two cars that have more holes in them than a senator's sworn statement to an ethics committee." Dannix gave his Jedi friend a light-hearted report of the situation. "Five on the left, seven on the right." He jerked his head backwards. "Two more back there. They were more or less occupying the guard house when we emerged. We gotta get through this gauntlet, if we're to get outta here. On top of all that, Chips here has picked up some low frequency transmissions. The ZSA will be on us in less than three minutes, so we don't have a lot of time for smellin' the roses here."

Dahlgen rolled his eyes in frustration. A visit from the Zeltros Security Authority was hardly unexpected especially after he'd sent that stormtrooper out of the top floor window. Still, it was the last thing they needed under the circumstances. "Right. Here's what we're gonna do. Cronus, you grab Dawna and make a beeline for the first car. We'll cover you. As soon as he's clear Katya, you, T3 and HK get to the second car. Once you're there HK, you and Cronus provide covering fire so Dannix and I can move. Everybody got that?"

"We've got it boss but we need to make it snappy," Dannix warned. "I've only got about a hundred or so shots left."

"Dijas, did you copy all that?"

Dijas dropped another stormtrooper with a head shot. "I copy. I'll keep you guys covered."

"All right, go!" Dahlgen ordered as he ignited his double saber and moved to help fend off TK8873 and TK5309.

Major Derwit loaded a fresh power pack into his blaster pistol and wondered how much longer this was going to go on. Surely the heavy repeater the Mandalorian was using would've exhausted its power supply by now. As he cautiously peered around the end of the vehicle a fresh volley of blaster fire zeroed in on his position and impacted the car mere centimeters from his face. The repulsor coils finally gave out and the car crashed to the ground. Derwit gritted his teeth as he retreated behind cover again.

Lieutenant Alston crawled up next to him, no longer caring what he may have done to Moff Ulcom. "We've got to do something Major," she pleaded. "We might as well be a couple of nerfs sitting in a pack of hungry rancors."

Derwit's mind did some fast analysis. The repulsor cars they were using as cover were all but destroyed and were not going to serve any purpose beyond what they currently did. Earlier in the evening, the Moffs had arrived in other non-descript vehicles but they were located further back in the parking structure. Though Derwit could see them clearly, they all would have to cross a lot of wide open space to get to them. That meant exposing themselves to the Mandaloian and the sniper for a few seconds. Though a couple or perhaps even a few of them might get it, surely neither of them could take them all down before they were out of range.

It wasn't exactly what one would call the most ideal of conditions, but it was certainly better than sitting where they currently were and getting shot to death. Whoever these Rebels were, they were far better trained than the average Rebel soldier. He'd made mental notes on each of them and Derwit was actually looking forward to finding out exactly who these Rebels were. That was, of course, if he managed to survive the night, which was looking less and less likely with each passing moment.

"All right, listen up," he said to his comrades. "Our only way out of here is in those repulsor cars that Moffs Hazloc and Ulcom arrived in." Derwit made a hand gesture towards them. "We're going to have to have to engage in a fighting withdrawal if we're to stand any chance of getting to them. We'll make two teams." He pointed to Moff Hazloc, Lieutenant Alston and two nearby stormtroopers. "You sir, Lieutenant, you two and myself are team one. The others are team two. One team moves back ten meters while the other team provides suppressing fire and we leap frog our way back to those vehicles. Everyone ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be Major," Moff Hazloc shouted, squeezing off two shots in the process.

Derwit was about to give the order to move when one of the troopers shouted, "Look, they're moving out!"

Trooper Lieutenant TK8275 was crouched next to Major Derwit. "Now's our chance to take them out! Forward!"

"No you fools!" Major Derwit's protest was drowned out by the sound of heavy blaster fire as the troopers began their doomed advance. Two were quickly gunned down by Dannix and a third fell victim to Dijas before the others quickly retreated. Derwit grabbed TK8275 by the arm. "You do anything that stupid again lieutenant and I'll shoot you myself." Yet another trooper fell with a chest full of blaster burns and Derwit cautiously peered around the ruined car for a look. "See? They are engaged in a fighting retreat too lieutenant," Derwit explained. "Charging them now is exactly what they want us to do. Our only chance is to let them go for the moment, then try to take them out on the thoroughfares."

Dahlgen allowed himself a grim smile of mild satisfaction as he observed Cronus putting Dawna into the repulsor car across the street. With a twirl of his double saber, Dahlgen reflected a series of blaster bolts fired at him by TK8873 and TK5309 harmlessly away. Fully tuned in to the Force, Dahlgen knew where all of his adversaries were, even the ones behind him. With its energy fully enveloping him, the Imperials appeared as gold auras in Dahlgen's field of vision, slowly turning orange and then deep red as they attacked.

Katya, HK and T3 were starting to make their move towards the vehicles, but Dahlgen hardly took any notice. He tapped into the Force to throw a temporary Force shield around Katya and the droids as a volley of blaster bolts whined against it. While he may have preferred the unpredictability of the Juyo style, long ranged fighting against blaster type weapons required different tactics. Settling into the Form III, Soresu style, Dahlgen worked his double saber and deflected several shots away from himself at multiple angles.

TK5309 hissed as a shot she'd fired was returned and landed near her head. After Dannix had destroyed the guard house, she and TK8873 had taken cover behind a pair of trees in the courtyard. Like most of the others, she has never witnessed a Jedi's power and skill before. She had to admit, it was impressive. TK5309 even had to respect the Jedi she and TK8873 were facing. But enemies of the Empire were enemies of the Empire and he needed to be brought to justice, or so the official orders stated.

Dahlgen reflected a bolt back at the stormtrooper behind him that had fired it and the trooper slumped to the ground. The Clone Wars veteran then observed that Katya and droids had made it across the street and Cronus was laying down covering fire with HK backing him up. "Got that detonator handy Dannix," Dahlgen asked.

Dannix pulled the detonator that Cronus had given him earlier in the generator room. "Right here."

"You ready?"

"Ready when you are mate," Dannix insisted.

From his sniper's perch in the park, Dijas dropped another trooper. "Come on you two," he muttered. "Get outta there."

"Let's go," Dahlgen ordered.

As Dannix began to move, Dahlgen hung back to guard him and survey the battle around them. The remaining Imperials that Dannix had been keeping busy were now focused on him as were the two annoyances that were hiding behind those trees. The Imperial forces had been cut by more than half during the brief skirmish and those that remained weren't moving from their current positions. Logic seemed to have dictated to them that the best way to stay alive at this point was to just stay put.

Even that was challenging as Dahlgen reflected some blaster fire back into the chest of the stormtrooper who had fired it. As the body fell lifeless to the ground, Dahlgen angled his double saber into a guard stance in preparation for the next assault. With more than half their number now dead, the stormtroopers had become reluctant to expose their positions. A few had even resorted to firing their weapons under the cars, but Dahlgen had been expecting this tactic.

"Come on Dahlgen!" Dannix yelled back. "We gotta go!"

Dahlgen brought his double saber up and around, sending some more blaster fire back where it had come from and shouted one more order to the retreating Dannix.

"Blow it!"

Dannix pushed the button on the detonator. Dahlgen took off after him.

In the main generator room, the device that Cronus had given Dannix earlier did its job, sending an electronic feedback signal through the generator and overloading it. With a thunderous roar, the main generator exploded. Outside, the blast was deafening as flames shot out from all sides of the ground floor and spewed ferrocrete and other debris all over.

The structure of the building began to groan and complain under the sudden stress. With the structural integrity compromised, the support beams could no longer support the weight of the building. As dust continued to settle all over him, Major Derwit looked up as the ground began to shake. His eyes widened in horror as he witnessed the top floors begin to fall in on each other. "Run! Move! It's coming down!"

The entire building began to crumble and all the floors began to telescope and sandwich in on each other. Twisted pieces of durasteel and large fragments of ferrocrete rained down throughout the courtyard. Major Derwit and the others ran for all they were worth as the falling structure threatened to crush them all. Within seconds it had all come crashing down, sending a giant dust cloud up into the air.

High above Zeltros, Marsala kept the _Silver Horizon_ on course and tried the comm. again. "Extraction to Command, come in please." No answer. "Extraction to Long Range, come in." Still no answer.

_Come on, someone respond_, Marsala thought. He tried retuning the comm. though he subconsciously knew it was a pointless gesture.

"Extraction to Surprise, are you there?" Marsala exhaled in frustration. Where the hell was everyone? "Extraction to any other team, respond please! Someone answer me!"

Major Derwit flailed his arms about, trying to clear the air of the dust that appeared to be everywhere. It was a useless gesture. The dust cloud was so thick from the collapsing building it lingered for dozens of meters in all directions. He coughed repeatedly as the thick dust threatened to choke him. The building had finally stopped crashing to the ground, and he was now searching for whoever might have escaped the calamity.

For several more seconds, nothing. Then a sound. Someone else coughing. With his eyes tearing up, Major Derwit staggered in the direction of the sound. "Hello!" _cough, cough_, "Anyone there?"

"Major?" a voice returned through the opaque dust. "Major?" A second later Major Derwit bumped squarely into Lieutenant Sheila Alston. "Major! Glad to see you're all right."

"I will be once I get out of this pea soup," Derwit complained. "Where's Moff Hazloc? Is he okay?"

"He's got a sprained ankle, but he'll be fine," Lieutenant Alston confirmed. "He's just over here." Alston led Derwit through the dust cloud to where she had left Moff Hazloc by the side of the road. He was massaging his sore foot and five stormtroopers were clustered around him, acting as security.

Derwit knelt beside the Moff and assisted. "Are you all right sir?" He gripped the Moff's injured foot in an effort to ascertain just how serious it was.

"OUCH!" Hazloc cried out. "Obviously not Major!" He exhaled a few times and nodded. "But I'll survive."

"What about the Rebels?"

Lieutenant Alston pointed down the thoroughfare. "They went that way a short distance, then split up. One continued west and the other turned north." She coughed a few more times. "What do you suggest we do Major?"

"Go after them I hope," Derwit replied. "Sir?"

Moff Hazloc turned to one of the stormtroopers and it turned out to be Trooper Lieutenant TK8275. "You heard him lieutenant. Get a couple of vehicles, steal them if you have to, and let's get after them."

"Right away sir," TK8275 responded.

Major Derwit allowed himself a faint smile. "I'll drive sir."

TK8873 helped TK5309 to her feet. They had run the opposite way when the building came down and taken refuge in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant. Though the customers and staff had abandoned the area when the shooting outside had started, there were still dozens of speeders in the parking lot, now largely covered with dust and dirt. Some even had broken windscreens and numerous dents from the falling debris.

TK5309 coughed incessantly as she waved her hands about in a feeble attempt to clear the air. "Damn," she said hoarsely. "I didn't expect them to do that."

"Me either," TK8873 admitted.

TK5309 observed the other remaining stormtroopers climbing into the vehicles commandeered by their comrades. "We'd better go with them."

TK8873 caught her by the arm. "Wait. I got an idea."

_Streets of Zeltros_

Firing his back-mounted jet pack, Dijas Kintaro glided through the park and landed gently on the roof of the repulsor car Dahlgen was driving as it sped away from the scene. He knocked twice on the roof and Dahlgen lowered the passenger side windscreen. "Evening there gents," Dijas said as he squeezed his way inside. He looked at Dawna's unconscious form and instinctively felt for a pulse, knowing that he'd find one. "How is she?"

"Fine. For now anyway," Dahlgen grumbled.

Dahlgen swore loudly as he operated the repulsor car at high speed down a main thoroughfare. He was mad. Not only had things gone wrong during this mission, but now Dawna had been hurt on top of it all. It wasn't the first time a mission had gone sideways for them. In general, Force Revanchist was used to that. But this was the first time that any of them had been seriously hurt as a result and it made his blood boil. The fact that it was Dawna made it even worse.

He'd warned her several times in the not so distant past regarding her style of dress, the lack of armor that it contained and her constantly exposed midriff. He'd warned her on countless occasions that she was running the risk of serious injury. In the end though, Dahlgen knew that Dawna's style of dress was but a small part of what made her who she was. And nothing he said, did or complained about was going to change that. Dahlgen felt that doing so somehow cheapened her and did not take her beliefs and personal feelings into consideration. Dawna had always been a bit of a free spirit and her style of dress was but just one way she expressed that freedom.

Being a Jedi and a war veteran, Dahlgen knew all too well that casualties were a part of war and that no matter what one did, that aspect of war could never be changed. But Force Revanchist was more than just his team. It was his family. And despite what the Alliance High Command sometimes thought about small teams like his, in Dahlgen's mind absolutely no one on his team was expendable.

Dahlgen could still feel Dawna's pain, though it had lessened considerably since his efforts to heal her. More than that though, he could also feel her calmness of spirit, her contentedness with the situation. Almost as if she felt safe placing her fate in his hands. Being responsible for the fate of others was something that Dahlgen had accepted the minute he'd set foot on the battlefields of Geonosis and he'd never looked back. Sometimes, as in Dawna's case, it brought great joy and happiness, though it also carried a certain amount of fear and anxiety. And in other extreme cases… well, Dahlgen didn't want to recall those at the moment.

Turning onto another less traveled highway, Dahlgen narrowly avoided a group of drunk Zeltron partiers that came staggering out of a nearby cantina. He was afraid to ask, but he knew he had to. "How is she really doing back there Cronus?"

"Fine given the circumstances," Cronus responded.

Dahlgen keyed the repulsor car's comm. system and dialed an audio frequency that he knew his son would be regularly scanning on the _Silver Horizon_. "Marsala, you there? Come in Marsala. Respond please."

"Dad, it's about time you checked in. Where the hell are you?" Dahlgen's son was thrilled to hear his father's voice again. "I've been worried ever since I lost contact with everyone. What the hell's going on out there?"

Dahlgen snorted in disgust. "You want the short version or the very short version?"

Marsala rolled his eyes as he knew more or less what was coming. "Better give me the very short version for now dad."

"Well then son, we were able to record and eavesdrop on the meeting. And we learned some very interesting bits of information. But then the mission went more or less down the refresher. I'll give you more details on exactly what happened later son. Right now, we've got more pressing issues to deal with."

"I'm not going to like what you're about to tell me, am I?"

"Dawna's been hurt bad. Get a lock on the source of this transmission. I need an extraction now."

Marsala frowned as he worked the Silver Horizon's console. "I'm having some difficulty pinpointing your location dad. Are you mobile?"

"Yes."

"That explains it. Lemme try…" He readjusted the parameters of her scan. "There. I've got you." He exhaled in frustration. "I'm already airborne dad, but you're some distance away and Uncle Dannix is much closer."

"He's already checked in with you then?"

"'Bout thirty seconds ago."

"All right, go ahead and pick him up first then. Katya and the droids are with him," Dahlgen insisted. "Be quick about it though, son. The ZSA is going to be all over us any minute now."

"I hear you dad. I'll be there as fast as possible. Say hi to grandpa for me."

"Stop calling me 'grandpa!'" Cronus yelled.

Dahlgen couldn't help but laugh. "Did you get that?"

"Yeah," Marsala replied with a chuckle. "Same reaction as always. Out."

Dahlgen heard the unmistakable wail of an alerter as soon as the comm went silent. He rolled his eyes again. "Great. Just what we needed."

In the second repulsor car, Dannix was at the controls with Katya riding shotgun. HK was in the back seat and Gee Tee was locked into the droid socket to the rear of the vehicle. For the past several minutes he'd been involved in heated discussion with Katya. "Listen Little Missy, it's not my fault that that stupid trooper fell on the alarm switch!"

Katya glared at him, her blue eyes full of fire. She hated it when Dannix called her "Missy"… which was often. "But you were the one fighting him! He didn't just throw himself over the watchman's desk, did he?!"

"Of course not!" Dannix roared. A passing repulsor car sounded its warning device at the fleeing Rebels. The pissed Mandalorian leaned out the window. "Stick that damned thing up your arse mate!"

"What the hell are you doing? Get back in here!" Katya shouted.

Dannix crawled back inside and concentrated on driving, making several turns in rapid succession. Neither of them spoke for several moments and the tension hung in the air. Finally, Dannix elected to speak.

"Look Katya, I'm just as worried about Dawna as you are," Dannix spoke in a much calmer tone. "But Dahlgen says she's stable at the moment. And…" he made a sweeping gesture with his hands. "Given our current situation, I'd say we have no choice but to take him at his word."

Katya banged her fist on the console in frustration. "I know damn it." She allowed herself to speak in a calmer tone as well. "I just hate wasting all this time dodging these damned Imperials when we need to be tending to her injuries."

"I know. I feel the same way. But trust me when I say that whatever concern we may be feeling towards her… it's absolutely nothin' compared to what's goin' through the boss's mind right now."

Katya looked at Dannix again, this time her expression showing that of extreme worry. "No kidding. Dahlgen would be devastated if he ever lost her, though I think he's too proud to admit it. He'd probably hang up his lightsaber forever if that happened."

"You think it's any different for Dawna?" Dannix suggested.

Katya pursed her lips as she considered Dannix's claim. "No," she finally answered with a shake of her head. "They rely on each other more than I think either of them realize."

"Well maybe they'll finally start realizin' it," Dannix pondered.

"**Evaluation: ** While the two of you may find this discussion regarding the meatbag Dahlgen and the meatbag Dawna's mating rituals utterly fascinating, I personally am repulsed to my behavior core by it. And we have more urgent matters at hand. **Observation: ** We are at present being pursued by a repulsor car containing four Imperial stormtrooper meatbags."

"Four of them?" Katya asked.

"**Sarcastic Repetition:** I believe four Imperial stormtrooper meatbags was what I said. And they are about to…"

An instant later they were all tossed about by a hard jolt as the Imperial car rammed them.

"… ram us," finished HK.

"Thanks ever so much for the warning HK," Dannix growled. "Here love… drive." Dannix instructed Katya as he climbed out the window.

"What the…" Katya yelped. Stunned by Dannix's sudden action, she took control of the vehicle. "Why am I driving? What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm tryin' to save our asses!" Dannix yelled as he perched himself in the window frame and drew his heavy blaster.

The Imperial vehicle rammed them again and Dannix nearly toppled to the ground. He righted himself and began firing at the pursuing vehicle. HK leaned forward and tapped Katya on the shoulder. "**Advisory:** It may be advantageous to us if the meatbag Katya did not drive in a perfectly straight line! It only makes us an easier target to hit." HK-87 then joined the fight, leaning out the opposite window and engaging the pursuing Imperials.

Katya began jinking and weaving her way through the crowded streets as the Imperials began returning fire. A repulsor limo had to swerve out of her way and the car spun around several times. Inside, the driver angrily sounded the warning horn as the members of Force Revanchist and their Imperial pursuers disappeared in the distance. "Ahhh, blow it out your exhaust vent," Katya muttered.

The stormtrooper driving the vehicle with his comrades was having trouble keeping pace with Katya and the others. He accelerated sharply and tried to pull alongside the Rebel vehicle, but oncoming traffic thwarted that idea. His comrades were finding it equally difficult to land any shots where they were aimed. So far they'd managed to destroy the rear signal lights and glance one off of Dannix's helmet. That had only served to make the Mandalorian angrier. But if they weren't hitting anything, neither was Force Revanchist.

That changed a few seconds later when the Imperial vehicle swerved to the right and HK blew the passenger-side front quarter-panel off the vehicle. The jagged piece of durasteel tore away from the car's frame and bounced down the thoroughfare sending up a shower of sparks as it did. In his haste to avoid the makeshift saw blade tumbling in his direction, one of the troopers hoisted himself up and adopted a position in his window similar to Dannix's. That was his doom as it put him directly in Dannix's sights. The Mandalorian shot him twice in the head and the stormtrooper's lifeless corpse flopped backwards and tumbled out of the vehicle, following in the car fragment's wake and getting run over by another vehicle.

"Hang on," Katya shouted an instant before jerking the vehicle into a hard left. Dannix flattened himself against the vehicle's roof to avoid getting thrown from it. The Imperial vehicle followed, but the turn was wide and their vehicle fishtailed. The rear of it slammed into a slower moving vehicle and propelled it across three lanes before it careened through the front entryway of a nightclub. Its neon lights fizzled out amidst a shower of sparks, flying debris and panicked patrons.

Dannix grimaced as he witnessed the collision. _Damned Imperials,_ he thought. Hanging on for dear life as Katya weaved in and out of traffic, Dannix continued firing at the pursuing Imperials. Once again, the Imperials rammed the fleeing car and Dannix nearly dropped his weapon. With his teeth clenched in anger, Dannix fired several times at the pursuing vehicle shattering its front windscreen and pegging the front seat passenger with two shots to the chest.

High above the battle, the _Silver Horizon_ gently descended towards the scene. At its controls, Marsala monitored the exchange of blaster fire between the two vehicles. Moving his fingers deftly over the main control panel, he readied the _Horizon'_s anti-vehicular autoblaster. Using the quad laser turret would be too risky in the middle of the capital city and he didn't want any unnecessary casualties.

Aware that the _Silver Horizon_ was approaching, Katya held the repulsor car in a hard right turn, bounced off the thoroughfare and charged straight into Hedonist Square. The name was a bit of a misnomer really. Hedonist Square was actually a large park filled with grassy locales, walking paths, concert shells, various carnival attractions and countless places where one could get their fill of alcohol. Unfortunately, because of the planet-wide party, Hedonist Square also was packed with revelers of various species.

Frantically trying to get out of the way, people began running in all directions as the two repulsor cars sped through the grass. The car Katya was driving hit a particularly rough spot and HK banged his head against the ceiling while he reloaded his weapon. Dannix popped his head in and looked at Katya. "And you had the audacity to ask me what the hell I was doin'!"

"Oh shut up!" Katya yelled at him. She drove straight through a temporary bar set up in the park, splashing various forms of alcoholic drinks all over the car and Dannix.

"Wonderful drivin' Missy! Now I'm gonna smell like cheap hooch for the next couple of weeks!"

"It's better than what you usually smell like, nerfherder!" Katya shot back.

Dannix laughed to himself as his continued to fire at the pursuing Imperials. Katya was definitely a feisty one, if slightly less so than Dawna. She'd make a good Mandalorian woman, though not for him. He'd sworn off of women years ago and Katya really wasn't his type anyway. The only things that existed for him now were his fight against the Empire and service to Dahlgen… a man he considered to be his brother despite their sometimes drastic differences in ideologies.

Screaming at the gathered partiers to get out of the way and leaning on the vehicle's warning horn, Katya continued to drive straight through the park. Coming to the crest of a small embankment, Katya headed down into a concert field that was just beginning to fill up with people anticipating the evening's performance. As the curious onlookers began scatter at the sight of the seemingly out of control car bearing down on them, a new sound from above got their attention.

It was the opportunity Marsala had been waiting for. The _Silver Horizon_ swooped in low over the car just as the other car carrying the stormtroopers crested the embankment. He triggered the ship's chin mounted autoblaster cannon three times. All three shots found their target and the stormtrooper occupied car burst into flames. An instant later, the main repulsor coil blew, sending the car flipping end over end across the field and ejecting what remained of its three occupants in all directions. It finally came to rest on its roof and continued to burn fiercely.

Katya swerved her car a hundred and eighty degrees and stopped. Ahead, the Silver HEbon Hawk turned to face them and lower its boarding ramp.

Dannix gave a thumbs-up sign to the ship. "Nice shootin' boy!" He ducked inside the car. "You all right?

HK glared at Dannix. "**Mockery:** Am I all right? Why in the Master's name would you ask such a stupid question? **Statement:** I have just been bounced all over the interior of this horrifyingly undersized tin can like two meatbags in an out of control escape pod. Of course maybe that just happens to be your ridiculous idea of entertainment. So if that's the case, then yes master! I am perfectly fine! **Expletive:** What a dumb ass."

Dannix was used to HK's unique sociability. "And nice drivin' Missy."

Katya's normally well groomed appearance was a little disheveled. Her eyes were wide and she breathed heavily from both fear and exhaustion. She turned her blue eyes towards Dannix and tried to summon the will to say something sarcastic. But in the end all she could get out was a mildly miffed, "Thanks."

Dahlgen barely looked up as the driver of the ZSA patrol vehicle behind him shouted for him to pull over once more. With its alert system fully activated, the ZSA car kept up the chase through the streets of the capital city. Dahlgen wished he could shut that damned alertor off. Its incessant wail was beyond annoying. In actuality, he could shut it off but he wasn't about to waste time concentrating on the Force to do it at present.

And the ZSA patrol vehicle chasing him was only the least of Dahlgen's concerns. He'd recently spotted another, unmarked repulsor car chasing after the ZSA vehicle. No doubt it was containing a handful of the Imperials they'd left behind when the Mobquet Swoop building collapsed. Several times it had attempted to get around the ZSA, only to fall back because of oncoming traffic.

Whoever was driving that unmarked vehicle was persistent. Perhaps it was one of the Moffs or their aides. Regardless, they weren't about to let Dahlgen and those that were with him just slip away. It convinced Dahlgen that they had stumbled onto something big when he and Dawna had overheard the two Moffs discussing that damned Project Epsilon. Whatever it was, someone was desperate enough to ensure it stayed a secret. That wasn't unusual for any Imperial project, but when you factored in that two Moffs were involved in this one, it put whatever this Project Epsilon was a little bit higher on the priority scale.

Two vehicles behind him, Major Derwit once again attempted to overtake the ZSA vehicle. Gunning the drive system, the Imperial vehicle easily pulled up alongside the ZSA vehicle surprising the Zeltron driver. Derwit didn't hesitate, jerking his vehicle to the side and forcing the ZSA off the thoroughfare. The driver quickly lost control and the ZSA vehicle careened into a nearby building, exploding on impact.

In his rear monitor, Dahlgen witnessed the untimely demise of the ZSA officers and shook his head. _Damned Imperials._

"I'll see what I can do to deter them," Cronus spoke from the rear seat. He poked his head out the rear, driver's window and began firing his blasters at the Imperial vehicle. Having disassembled and put away his sniper rifle, Dijas assisted by firing his own sidearm at the Imperial from the opposite side. One bolt smashed into the Imperial vehicle's front illuminator and it winked out of existence.

Instinctively ducking and weaving the vehicle from side to side as the blaster shots flew by, Derwit kept up the chase. In the rear of the vehicle, Lieutenant Alston and Moff Hazloc were bounced around uncomfortably. A particularly hard jolt caused Hazloc to bang his head against the ceiling and he nearly blacked out. Though slightly dazed, Hazloc still barked, "Watch your driving Major or you'll kill us all!"

Intensely focused on the chase, Derwit barely heard him. All he wanted to do, all he cared about, was stopping those Rebels from getting away. Common sense told him to abandon the chase, let the intruders who had spoiled the meeting escape for now. He could remember enough about them to eventually learn their identities. And then he could fight them on a battleground of his choosing. One where his victory would be guaranteed.

Though Derwit's logistical mind screamed at him to stop, his pride got the better of him. He was a dedicated and well trained Imperial officer. No Rebel was going to make a fool out of him. And to blazes with the risks. "He's headed for the Art District," Derwit claimed.

If the Zeltrons were known for producing some of the raciest pieces of art in the galaxy… which they were… then Zeltros's Art District was perhaps the raciest place on the planet. And the Zeltrons made sure everyone who traveled to their world knew about it. In front of nearly every building was some form of sculpture that vividly portrayed sex or sexuality. One particular sculpture… that of some kind of a nymph of ancient folklore in a unique pose… was enough to make even the normally unflappable Dahlgen blush.

Cronus and Dijas continued to fire at the pursuing Imperials. Ahead, traffic began to get thicker forcing Dahlgen to move to the right side of the thoroughfare. As they approached a busy intersection Dahlgen called back, "Standby for a left turn."

"Hey mate, you don't make a left turn from the right lane," Dijas protested.

"We do," Dahlgen insisted as he yanked the repulsor car left around a corner, narrowly avoiding a massive collision with several other vehicles. Angry warning horn blasts followed him as he sped away. The force of the turn threw Cronus across the vehicle and Dijas grunted in pain as he was crushed between the door and the tumbling Weequay.

Dahlgen's sharp maneuver caught Major Derwit by surprise and he sped straight through the intersection. He swore loudly as he applied the inertial dampers… commonly referred to as brakes… and slammed the control column to the left. The sudden deceleration coupled with the extreme application of turning forces resulted in the vehicle spinning around several times before coming to rest facing the opposite way.

Moff Hazloc had had enough of being tossed around. "Let them go Major. We can catch them another day. Mobquet's security feeds are bound to identify at least one of them."

Security feeds? What security feeds? With the building now gone, chances were that anything about them that had been recorded was gone as well. Major Derwit's anger was now overcoming his reason however and he slammed the vehicle into gear, resuming the chase once more. As he maneuvered his vehicle after the Rebels, he could see his adversary's vehicle far in the distance. Although he couldn't be absolutely sure, Derwit was confident the dark haired male Jedi was controlling the vehicle. No. He wasn't going to let them get away. No group of ragtag Rebels was going to outfox him.

Behind him, Moff Hazloc hadn't stopped shouting orders at the major. "Damn it Major, stop! Stop this instant! That's an order Major!"

Far ahead, Dahlgen leaned back over his shoulder. "They still back there?"

Through the rear windscreen, Cronus could just make out the silhouette of the Imperial vehicle as it resumed the pursuit. "Damn. Yeah, they're still with us," he grumbled. "They've fallen back a bit, but that driver is determined." He tapped Dijas on the shoulder. "C'mon old friend, let's keep them from getting too close." Cronus and Dijas leaned out the windows again and resumed firing at the Imperials.

Ahead, Dahlgen could see that a series of alternating red warning flashers and audible alarms had been activated. Dahlgen knew what that meant; a repulsor train was approaching. On highly developed Core worlds like Coruscant, maglevs and monorails were the common form of rail travel, located well away from any possible interference from repuslor cars or air speeders. On worlds not quite so developed however, such as Zeltros, repulsor trains were still quite common and it was only slightly less common to see repulsor train paths cross over major thoroughfares and highways.

Dahlgen could see the train approaching from his left. It was a passenger train full of people and traveling at a high rate of speed. Its driver, already aware of the potential danger, was sounding the train's emergency alerter.

"I hear a train," Cronus said while still concentrating on the pursuing Imperials.

"You've got good ears," Dahlgen remarked sarcastically. He'd already figured that unless he was able to coax more speed from the vehicle, the train would beat them to the crossing and then they'd be trapped between it and the Imperials. Taking deep breath, he put all the sounds out of his mind… Cronus and Dijas's blasters, the approaching train's alerter and even the sounds of the vehicle itself.

Consumed by the Force, Dahlgen scanned the vehicle, looking for something that could give them the edge they needed. Time was running out. The crossing was less than 200 meters ahead and the train wasn't slowing down. The train's driver continued to sound the alerter though Dahlgen paid it no attention.

Dahlgen released the control column and held his hand above it, allowing the Force to guide the vehicle. Sifting through the complex web of circuitry, Dahlgen scanned every last piece of it, searching for that one thing that would get them to safety. The main repuslor coil was newly replaced and the power cell was fully charged. It was too late to stop now. If he didn't find something immediately, they'd be plastered on the train's flank as it passed.

Major Derwit observed the developing situation and laughed. "We've got them now," he spoke with confidence. "They'll either have to stop or be crushed by that train."

There! The power exchange manifold had a slight fluctuation and was in need of calibration. Dahlgen had only seconds to tweak the component but there was still danger present. If he tweaked it too much, he'd blow the drive system out and the vehicle would come to an immediate stop. The occupants would no doubt be thrown all over the vehicle resulting in catastrophic injuries to all. If he didn't tweak it enough, the train would slam into their flank as they passed over the crossing. Gently… gently…

Cronus finally looked ahead and saw the repulsor train bearing down on the crossing. "Yaah!" He retreated inside the car, tapped Dijas and braced himself for impact. "Get in here!"

Dijas took a look at what was happening at Cronus's insistence. "Holy!" he yelled as he too prepared for the crash that seemed imminent. _Afterlife, here I come._

Finally accepting the fact that the racing car was just not going to stop, the driver of the train activated the emergency stop sequence. But he realized he'd activated the sequence too late. Even though the repulsor coils had been shut off, the train's momentum would still carry it through the crossing. A collision was imminent. He shielded his eyes and sounded the alerter one final time as both the car and the train reached the crossing. Dahlgen didn't even flinch as the durasteel behemoth loomed so close that he could almost reach out and touch its cold surface.

An instant later, the train roared over the crossing missing the rear quarter of the vehicle by only inches. Releasing his Force control of the car, Dahlgen slammed on the brakes and it spun three times before coming to rest, the repulsor coil sufficiently burned up to ensure the vehicle was not moving anywhere anytime soon.

On the other side, Major Derwit blinked in stunned shock as the Rebel vehicle flew over the crossing and evaded the train. "Wha… What the?" The margin had been so narrow he doubted even the most seasoned of pod racers could pull it off. "How is it possible?" In his stunned state, he continued speeding towards the crossing.

Moff Hazloc, Lieutenant Alston and TK8275 were equally shocked at the Rebels' sudden escape but immediately became aware of the titanic metal monster fast approaching. In terrified panic, Moff Hazloc and Lieutenant Alston grabbed onto each other screaming, "Brakes Derwit! BRAKES!"

Suddenly jolted back to reality, Major Derwit jammed on the brakes and jerked the controls to the left. The vehicle spun around once and came to rest with its right flank just inches from train as it too came to a stop. Breathing heavily, Derwit looked back at the others who were just grateful not to be human flapjacks. "Everyone all right?"

Moff Hazloc glared at the man who had nearly killed them and wondered if he was even less competent than Moff Ulcom had been. "Peachy Major! Just peachy!" His voice dripped with anger and animosity.

In the other car, Dahlgen nudged both Cronus and Dijas. "You boys can open your eyes now," Dahlgen stated. "We've passed it."

Slowly, Cronus one eye, then the other, then he looked around in all directions. It was almost too good to be true. "We made it? We're not dead?"

"Not hardly," Dahlgen replied. He extricated himself from the vehicle. "But we will be soon if we don't get outta here."

Cronus and Dijas both clambered out of the vehicle and Dijas jerked his thumb back in the direction of the stopped train. "What about those Imps?"

"Well, since I didn't hear any explosions, we can safely assume that they didn't ram the train," Dahlgen concluded as he moved to remove Dawna. "That being the case, it won't take them long to figure out what happened to us."

"Freeze," a male voice called out. "Move and you're dead!"

Dahlgen slowly turned to see TK5309 and TK8873 standing approximately ten meters away, their blasters trained on him and his friends. He snorted, though neither of the troopers heard it. Facing them, Dahlgen did a gentle mind probe of them both. Unlike most stormtroopers, these two were extremely well trained and possessed strong minds. Jedi mind tricks weren't going to work on them.

"In the name of His Majesty, Emperor Palpatine, you are under arrest," TK8873 informed them. "Surrender now, and you will not be harmed."

"Oh please man," Dahlgen told TK8873. "Do you really expect us to believe that? There is a standing order to execute people like me on sight."

"Surrender now," TK8873 warned again.

Dahlgen became aware of the _Silver Horizon_ approaching and he smiled. "None of us are going anywhere with either of you. Now before either of you gets hurt, back off."

TK5309 tensed her grip on her weapon. "You heard him! Surrender now!"

Dijas's fingers ever so slightly moved towards the grip on his blaster, hidden from the view of the stormtroopers.

Dahlgen shook his head. "I don't think so."

TK5309 fired. Dahlgen's double saber sprang to life and TK5309 cried out in agony as the bolt she fired was reflected straight back at her and hit her in the chest. She collapsed to the ground and dropped her weapon.

TK8873 watched her fall in horror and looked back at Dahlgen in time to see TK5309's weapon sail gracefully through the air and land neatly in his hand. Cronus and Dijas also drew their blasters, but kept their fire in check for the moment. TK8873's hand tensed around the trigger of his own weapon, but he knew he was as good as dead.

Dahlgen spoke again. "I sense that the two of you care for one another. I'd hate to ruin that because it's nice to see. Look at her."

TK8873 glanced down briefly. The wound in her chest was severe and she thrashed around a bit in extreme distress. She looked up at TK8873 as a trickle of blood oozed out of her mouth. Though she couldn't speak, her eyes pleaded with him to save her.

"Without assistance, she's got about two minutes to live," Dahlgen informed him. "Cronus, give him a life support pack."

"Are you crazy?" Cronus asked.

"Just do it."

Against his better judgment, Cronus holstered his weapon, reached into one of his cargo pockets and tossed a life support kit in TK8873's direction. It landed a few feet away from him.

"Now, this is going to end one of two ways," Dahlgen said. "We can finish this, in which case you are both guaranteed to die. Or, you can holster your weapon, take that life support kit and save her life. As a side bonus, you'll also be saving your own. The choice is yours brother, but either way make it fast because that ship you hear coming in is coming for us…" Dahlgen pointed to wounded Dawna still in the car. "And she cannot wait. Neither of them can."

TK8873 stared at Dahlgen for a few more seconds. He could've cared less about the red skinned near human woman in the car, but the Jedi was right about one thing. If he didn't help TK5309 now, they would both die. TK5309 needed him.

Elassa needed him.

Reluctantly, TK8873 holstered his weapon, picked up the medkit and began treating Elassa's wound. Though she was still in considerable distress and pain, she began to calm down as she felt TK8873's protective arms around her. "It's okay Elassa," TK8873 told her. "It's okay. You're going to be fine."

Dahlgen gently removed Dawna from the rear of the vehicle. Holding the unconscious Sith lady in his arms, Dahlgen brushed some of her hair from her face. "Hang on Dawna, just a little bit longer now."

_I knew you'd get us out of there._

_Hm?_

Who said that? Dahlgen realized with surprise that it was Dawna who'd said it. But she was unconscious wasn't she? Of course she was, but somehow she'd been able to communicate with him. _It's our bond. Our unique link through the Force. That's how she's communicating to me._ Dahlgen had studied the unique link between his ancestors, Revan and Bastila, for years though many aspects of it had been confusing to him. He wondered if all those confusing things were going to become clearer now that he was aware of the bond he shared with Dawna.

This wasn't the time to speculate on the future. Only one thing mattered to him now… get Dawna to safety. Dahlgen looked up to see the Silver Horizon descending from the sky. The boarding ramp lowered to reveal Katya Saren and Dannix Krell waiting for them.

"I swear to the gods Dahlgen," Dannix grumbled as they boarded. "If I ever see you pull a stunt like that again, I'll personally kick your arse from here to Mandalore and back."

"And I'll pick up where he leaves off," Katya chimed in.

Dahlgen offered them his usually sarcastic grin. "Yada, yada, yada… just help me get her to the medbay and check your saltier comments at the boarding ramp."

"Sir?" a male voice asked behind them.

Dahlgen passed Dawna off to Cronus who immediately boarded the ship and headed for the medbay. He turned to face TK8873 once more. TK8873 was cradling Elassa's head against his chest as he continued to apply the healing agents to her wound. He looked at Dahlgen with a look of appreciation and gratitude. "I know she didn't give you a choice. Thank you for helping me."

Dahlgen nodded out of respect. "You're welcome. And please tell your friend I'm truly sorry." Dahlgen was about to board when he turned again. "A last thought for you if I may?"

"What?"

"Find a different line of work," Dahlgen encouraged. "While I can't speak for her, you truly do not have the heart to be a warrior for the Empire."

"We're both very well trained," TK8873 protested. "And we're both quite capable warriors."

"I never said you weren't," Dahlgen replied. "I said you did not have the hearts to be warriors… for the Empire. There is a difference."

As the _Silver Horizon_ headed for space, none of them saw the two bluish figures that appeared on the scene. One, a male, leaned against the disabled repulsor car while the other, none other than Bastila Shan herself, stood a short distance from him. The male, though undoubtedly older in appearance, bore a striking resemblance to Dahlgen and wore a set of gray and black armor accented with gold and red. His hair was dark and long, though not as long as Dahlgen's, and he was slightly balding at the temples. A subtle hint of a mustache and beard accented his chiseled facial features.

Revan smiled as the _Silver Horizon_ receded in the distance and he folded his arms in front of himself. "So they finally take their first true steps together."

Bastila smiled as she faced him. "Yes. But I am concerned Revan. She is a Sith pureblood. Their path together could be extremely rocky. Will their path be as bumpy as yours and mine was? Do they even have a path together or will they be separated as you and I were for so long?"

Revan shrugged innocently. "Your concerns are well founded Bastila my dear. But I must apologize to you, for I do not have the answers you seek. The answers we both seek. One thing is for sure, they have a lot of challenges and obstacles ahead not just in the immediate, but in the months and years to come. They will have to make very wise choices if they are to survive."

"But, she is a pure Sith Revan," Bastila pointed out.

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Revan inquired.

"Nothing I guess," Bastila admitted. "I am merely wondering whether that in itself will become an obstacle in ways we have not yet thought of."

"Difficult to tell," Revan answered. "It may not. And then again, it might."

"It's fortunate then, that they have us to guide them," Bastila claimed.

Revan let his arms drop to his sides. "Yes, indeed. Though I am saddened that it had to come to this, I am also pleased that in the months and years to come, the Jedi Order will be rebuilt. Rebuilt around new beliefs and ideas, not those arcane and emotionless traditions they once subscribed to so blindly."

Bastila pursed her lips. "You mean our beliefs on feelings, bonds and romance?"

"That's part of it," Revan admitted. "The Jedi that are yet to come will do away with the old notion that to properly understand the Force, one could not have any attachments to other living beings; other people. They will learn that having these attachments and bonds only serve to make a Jedi stronger, so long as they are not violated or abused. And our descendant will play a large part in revealing that truth to the generations yet to come."

Bastila laughed. "Master Vrook must turning in his grave right now."

"What Master Vrook may be doing right now is of no concern to me," Revan said, though he did so with a slight smile. "His theories on the Force and the proper ways to study it are almost as misguided as one who follows Sith doctrine. Just like the rest of the Council's."

"Yes," Bastila commented dryly. "Rigid and infallible. That was their mindset, wasn't it?"

Revan nodded. "For hundreds of generations. We both knew the Council was wrong more often than it was right. And that was proven beyond any shadow of a doubt when they blindly allowed a Sith Lord to take the reins of the peaceful Republic and turn it into this monstrous Empire. But as I said, things are changing. The Jedi Order is being reborn and it will emerge from these tumultuous times stronger than ever. The next several months and years are going to be very interesting. For now though, all we can do is trust in the Force. Trust that it will deliver those two the most satisfactory outcome no matter what it may be."

Bastila smiled. "You're right my darling Revan. I shall enjoy watching this dance commence. And I shall so enjoy seeing how it ends." With that, she turned and leaned back into his loving embrace. He kissed her head and they both watched as the _Silver Horizon_ disappeared from view.


	4. The Descendant: Chapter 4

**The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 4**

_The Silver Horizon – Hyperspace_

_Three and a half hours later_

Weary and in desperate need of some sleep, Dahlgen Luzard paced around the crew lounge of the _Silver Horizon_. Nearby, Katya nervously stroked her lekku and Cronus tried unsuccessfully to bury himself in the ship's maintenance duties. Dannix and Dijas concentrated as best they could on a dejarik holo-chess game and Marsala absently watched the game slowly progress. Frustrated from growing concern, they waited less than patiently for news on Dawna's condition.

Dannix finally spoke up. "Dahlgen, for cryin' out loud, if you keep pacing like that, you're going to wear a hole in the deck plates."

"Ram it Dannix," he growled and immediately regretted his words. He stopped in mid-stride and smiled apologetically at his old friend. "I'm sorry Dannix my brother. I didn't mean that."

Dannix waved it off. "Ahhh forget it Dahlgen my brother. We're all a mite testy right now. All I can say is HK is doing everything he possibly can."

"I know, I know," Dahlgen responded. "Like you said, we're all a little testy at the moment."

"Dahlgen…" Katya said sweetly. "Trust in the Force. Whatever will be, will be."

Dahlgen stopped and looked upon the woman who he considered to be the sister he'd never had. In spite of the tension and worry in the room, neither could help but laugh. "I suppose the teacher should take his own advice once in a while, shouldn't he?"

Katya returned Dahlgen's smile. "Sometimes even the teacher needs help from the student."

HK… medical procedures… that was almost a contradiction in terms. Yet when Dahlgen had built HK-87 more than 10 years ago, he had needed a member of the team with knowledge of medicine, surgery and other diagnostic medical procedures. At the time Force Revanchist didn't even have a name and consisted of only Dahlgen, Dannix and Cronus. None of them had any formal medical training however, so Dahlgen had decided to include medical programming in HK's construction. There was of course Force healing and it was a very effective tool in warding off disease and healing an infinite number of maladies. There were those very rare occurrences however, when Force healing wasn't enough, wasn't prudent to use or even available to use. Whatever the reason, someone with a knowledge of medicine was required. This had turned out to be one of those times and they all silently thanked HK for his medical programming.

For his part, HK rather enjoyed having the knowledge of the anatomy of dozens of well known species. He claimed it made him more efficient as an assassin and combat droid. Dahlgen often hoped he hadn't inadvertently made a deal with the dark side by creating HK-87. But Dahlgen had included special programming that made it impossible for the droid to turn on his master or anyone else that Dahlgen specifically annotated as being untouchable.

The door leading to the main hold finally opened and HK stepped into the crew lounge main hold. Instantly all eyes were upon the droid as they hoped for the best but feared the worst. "**Statement:** It wasn't easy, but I did manage to get all the shrapnel out of the meatbag Dawna's body. **Explanation:** This included one fragment that was lodged dangerously close to her descending aorta. But all in all I think the meatbag Dawna will recover just fine and there will be little scarring, if any."

The announcement brought considerable relief from everyone and it showed on their faces. Dahlgen knew though that the piece of shrapnel that HK had located near Dawna's descending aorta had actually pierced it and it was why Dawna had been so close to death in the first place. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for repairing that wound to her aorta and moving that shrapnel away from it. Nodding with satisfaction he said, "Thank you HK. You've done well."

"**Statement:** I merely did what you programmed me to do master," HK replied. "All things considered, I would much rather be engaging in serial target practice against any number of Imperial meatbags. However, I humbly accept your praise master. After all, it is…" *gulp* "… my pleasure to serve. Ewww, I can't believe I just said that."

"Don't worry HK," Dannix assured him. "I'm sure it won't go to your behavior core."

"**Indignant Response:** And how in the blast would you know that Mandalorian meatbag?"

"HK…" Dahlgen warned the droid before he went too far.

"**Apology:** My sincerest apologies master," HK backed down. "While it is true that you all are meatbags, I should refrain from calling you as such."

Cronus piped up. "I think that's the best you're going to get out of him."

Dahlgen nodded. "I think so too. All right, is she in the mood for company at this time?"

"**Statement:** She is sleeping at the moment, therefore I would not advise it at this time master."

"At least we know she's going to be okay," Dijas added. "Better let the little lass enjoy her rest for now and see her after we've gotten some rest too."

"**Addendum:** "She's also very likely to be sore for the next several days. I would therefore, advise that she not exert herself too much during that time." The droid looked directly at Dahlgen. "In other words, lay off the Jedi training for a few days master."

"I get it HK," Dahlgen said with a raise of his hand. "Consider it done." He turned to the rest of Force Revanchist. "All right, I guess there is nothing more we can do for the moment except just let her rest. Cronus, I need to talk to you and Katya for a few minutes."

"Might the rest of us knock off for a little while?" Dannix inquired. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use 40 winks."

Dahlgen nodded in agreement. "Yes, of course. It's been a long night."

"And with that, may I say, good night," Marsala announced. "Dad, you'll let me know if there's any change?"

"Of course son."

"**Statement:** I will monitor the meatbag Dawna's progress throughout the night master," HK informed Dahlgen. "If there is any change, I shall let you know immediately."

"Don't use her for target practice while she's down blaster brain," Gee Tee teased him.

"**Irritated Declaration:** Oh do shut up you oversized trash compactor! I said I would watch over her!""

Dahlgen rolled his eyes. Watching the two droids tease and occasionally offend each other was like watching a comedy duo. Only what the droids did and said wasn't scripted. Most of time it was rather humorous to watch. But sometimes Dahlgen or one of the others had to get in between them before their "teasing" got violent. Like now for instance. Reverting to droidspeak, Gee Tee let out a series of beeps and hoots that could best be described as rude.

"**Objection:** Useless? I most certainly am not a useless collection of circuits and wires! Why I ought to…"

Dahlgen intervened before the two droids started really fighting. "All right that's enough out of both of you. We've got more important things to concern ourselves with here. HK, go stand watch over Dawna and alert me if there is any change in her condition. Gee Tee, you head to the cockpit and monitor the ship, including its current flight path."

"Yes sir," Gee Tee replied. He was very formal when he really didn't want to do something.

"**Weary Resignation:** Very well master. I shall do as you instruct."

Lounging in the pilot's chair and with her legs draped over the armrest, Katya accepted the glass of Corellian whiskey that Dahlgen offered her. "Thank you." She downed it in one shot, the liquid burning her throat as it went, followed by the richness of several spices and the semi-sweetness of some unknown fruit. Finally a smoky flavor rounded it off.

Sitting next to her in the copilot's chair, Dahlgen almost couldn't believe his eyes as he took a sip of his own drink. "Hey watch it," he warned. "That's the second one you've downed in less than a minute. The stuff's got a boomerang effect."

Katya's eyes widened in shock after she'd swallowed it and her next statement was a little hoarse sounding. "Oh God. How can you stand that stuff?"

Seated in the navigator's chair behind Dahlgen, Cronus laughed and sipped his own drink. "You're just not as used to some of life's finer pleasures the way we old hacks are there youngster."

The Twi'lek woman ignored Cronus's salty remark and looked at the man who she considered her best friend with a mildly intoxicated expression. "You look like hell Dahlgen," she said.

"You look like you're three sheets to the wind," he responded dryly.

"Better than being four sheets to the wind," Katya joked drunkenly.

This was going nowhere fast and Dahlgen let his displeasure show. Two drinks and Katya was already half blitzed. He had called for this impromptu meeting because he wanted to know what the hell had happened to Moff Ulcom. Katya had given him a short version of it when he'd first boarded, but he'd been more concerned with Dawna's condition at the time to care. Now though, he wanted some answers. But against his better judgment, he'd given Katya a drink when she'd asked for one. Dahlgen knew she didn't hold her liquor that well and he was now paying the price for that decision. _Note to self… teach Katya the Force techniques for detoxifying poison in one's own body._

Dahlgen attempted to gain Katya's attention again. "Katya, I need you to focus a minute here. From the top… what the hell happened in that stairwell?"

Katya pursed her lips and could only shrug. "What's there to tell? After I heard the grenade go off above me, I had HK go up and make sure you guys were okay. Cronus and I took off down the stairs in pursuit. We'd gotten down to about the third, maybe fourth floor. Next thing I know… blam, blam, blam. I see this Imperial major blow Moff Ulcom's brains out."

Dahlgen glanced back over his shoulder. "Cronus?"

"That's pretty much it Dahlgen," Cronus confirmed her story. "I admit I was behind her and didn't see everything she did. But when we made our presence known, that major fired on us. Tossed a flash-bang too."

"Which went 'boom' and made me dizzier than I am now," Katya reported much to Dahlgen's chagrin.

Dahlgen massaged his temples as he was just starting to feel the faint twinges of a coming headache. "I personally have no doubt it's the same Imperial Major that wounded Dawna," Dahlgen deduced. "But the question is why? Why did he murder Moff Ulcom? What possible use did it serve?"

Cronus offered a theory. "Well up until now, the Empire had no confirmed presence on Zeltros. Maybe he felt by murdering the Moff and then blaming the Alliance for it, it would swing the Zeltron government to the Empire's side in this lousy war. They've done it before."

"Well yes they have," Dahlgen admitted. "But there is one little thing wrong with your theory."

"What's that?"

"Why murder him in a stairway then?" Dahlgen challenged. "Really? If gaining influence over Zeltros that way was the Empire's aim, they would've made a grandiose scene out of the Moff's murder. Not have some major gun him down in a concealed stairway. On top of that, it has nothing to do with this Project Epsilon. I think the Moff's murder is connected to that somehow, if only superficially."

"I never said it was a good theory," Cronus answered.

In her half drunken haze, Katya came up with another possible, if not entirely plausible, answer. "Maybe he's an ISB agent. Maybe Moff Ulcom was planning to expose Project Epsilon, whatever it is, to the Alliance and the major killed him to keep him quiet."

As far-fetched as the idea sounded, it did hold a certain amount of logic. Ultimately however, Dahlgen rejected it. "Like I just said, whatever the major's motivations were, they have to have something to do with Project Epsilon," Dahlgen conceded. "But I seriously doubt Moff Ulcom has any Rebel leanings. He was singing the praises of the new Lancer class frigate during that meeting and was convinced it would end Rebel star fighter attacks on Imperial convoys. And let's not forget what we read in his dossier just prior to this mission. He is… was… a member of the Yularen family. I'd be shocked if anyone from that family suddenly switched sides."

Katya admitted Dahlgen had a point. "I guess so. So where does that leave us?"

"Right now, nowhere," Dahlgen said. "Though I have no doubt the answers we seek will become known in the fullness of time." Dahlgen frowned slightly as he saw Katya had all but tuned him out. "You still with me Katya?"

"Why is the Silver Horizon spinning?" Katya wondered. She looked at Dahlgen and a look of complete confusion came over her. "And when did you become a woman?"

"That's what I thought," Dahlgen said in mild frustration. "Go on, get some rest. Cronus, you want make sure Katya gets to her room without falling down the refresher or something equally silly?"

"I'm on it," Cronus assured him. He tapped Katya on the shoulder. "C'mon rose nose, time to sleep it off."

"Ah, roses," Katya stammered as she shakily got to her feet and promptly collapsed against the big Weequay. "I like roses."

Cronus shook his head and looked at Dahlgen. "I've never seen so little alcohol affect someone so much before."

Dahlgen shrugged. "Just get her to bed before she passes out."

For several moments after the other two left, Dahlgen sat alone in the darkened cockpit allowing his thoughts to wander. What was this Project Epsilon and why had an Imperial major murdered Moff Ulcom in cold blood? No doubt the Moff's murder would be blamed on the Rebel Alliance. More specifically, it would in all likelihood be blamed on Force Revanchist. But Dahlgen felt that it was just the icing on the cake. What was it about this Project Epsilon that had driven the major to murder the Moff?

Maybe Cronus was right. Maybe the major had murdered the Moff in an effort to discredit the Alliance and gain the Empire credit on Zeltros. Zeltros was, after all, well known for being a charter member of the Alliance. It was plausible, but it still failed to explain why the major had murdered the Moff in the stairway. The murder had obviously been done rather hastily and Dahlgen didn't believe that the Empire would move to discredit the Alliance on Zeltros, or any other world, with a such a rash act.

And then there was Katya's point. If the major was an undercover Imperial Security Bureau agent, then what had Moff Ulcom done to drive the major to murder? Dahlgen admitted that he had rather hastily dismissed the possibility that Moff Ulcom had switched sides. But it hadn't been without good reason to. Anything was possible though. Maybe all of Moff Ulcom's talk of the Lancer class frigate was just that… talk.

Finally, there was something else that Dahlgen had to consider. Though he felt it was a long shot, it was entirely possible that Project Epsilon and the major's murder of the Moff were unrelated after all. If so, that made the major's actions even more puzzling and demanding of an answer. Whatever the reasons, Dahlgen sensed he would learn the truth behind everything in the not too distant future.

Dahlgen knew that no satisfactory answers to his questions would be coming in the immediate future, so he allowed his mind to slip into the waves and ripples of the Force. Inevitably, his thoughts turned to Dawna. Dahlgen sensed her sleeping comfortably in the medical suite, her thoughts peaceful. Gently, he probed her mind and found she was dreaming about home. Not her home world, but her current home of Telos IV.

It was more or less home to them all and Force willing, they would get back to it soon. After Order 66 had been issued and Dahlgen successfully evaded the murderous onslaught of the clone troopers on Onderon, he'd managed to secure passage to Telos. That was thanks in no small part to some very un-Jedi like uses of the Force and his own wits. After all, a 12 year old boy just newly declared a criminal by the Empire didn't have a lot of options at the time. But guided by the Force, he'd safely arrived at Telos where he was guided by the spirits of his ancestors to what he now called the Citadel.

The Citadel was where Dahlgen and the rest of Force Revanchist made their permanent home. It was so well concealed that unless one was actively looking for it and knew precisely what to look for, it was nearly impossible to find even by chance. Not even Alliance High Command knew where the Citadel was and Dahlgen intended to keep it that way. Outside of Force Revanchist, only a very trusted few even knew of the Citadel's existence. But its exact location was still a well guarded secret by Force Revanchist.

Returning to full awareness, Dahlgen left the cockpit and made his way back into the ship. The _Silver Horizon_ was a heavily modified Suwantek TL-1800 class light freighter that Dahlgen had purchased second hand more than fifteen years earlier when he was still a young teenager. How had been able to pull that deal off was something that baffled everyone, including Dahlgen.

Immediately behind the cockpit was a room that contained the communications console and the ship's main computer temrinal. That reminded Dahlgen he needed to make a call to someone a little later. Looking to his left, Dahlgen observed Gee Tee plugged into the droid access socket of the main computer. "Everything okay," Dahlgen asked when the droid turned his head.

"Yes master," Gee Tee replied. "Everything is functioning normally and we're on course to our rendezvous point."

"Good," Dahlgen said. "Thank you Gee Tee. Keep at it."

"Yes master."

Along with the communications console and main computer terminal, the room directly behind the cockpit also had access doors to the port and starboard gunwells as well as the port and starboard boarding ramps. Dahlgen headed briefly into the port gunwell and inspected the quad laser turret's targeting computer. It had been malfunctioning lately and he'd asked Gee Tee to make some repairs if he could. Looked like he'd fixed it, but Dahlgen wouldn't know for sure until the next time the _Silver Horizon_ went into battle.

Dahlgen left the gunwell and headed further into the ship. The next room was the crew lounge where everyone had been gathered earlier awaiting news on Dawna's condition. Of course there was the dejarik holochess board there and with little fuss it could be turned into a sabacc table or a table for consuming meals; which was often its primary function. There was also a massive couch for lounging on, an entertainment computer programmed with more than seven dozen games, a holonet transceiver and a massage table. Dawna made use of that quite often.

The next doorway led to the long corridor of the main hold which was lined by numerous doors and an access tower with both a ladder and an elevator. The first ten doors, five on either side, were the crew staterooms and guestrooms. The very first one on the left was a Captain's Suite complete with a double bed, a small sofa, a private entertainment system and communications console and a couple of acquired objects d'art from Force knew where. As the rightful owner of the _Silver Horizon_, Dahlgen used this room as his personal quarters. Directly across the hall was the First Officer's Suite and it was a mirror image of the Captain's Suite, minus the private communications console. As Dawna was the official First Officer of the _Silver Horizon_, these were her private quarters.

Past the staterooms and guestrooms was the refresher complete with a shower, the medical suite where Dawna currently rested, a galley and a storage room for extra food, small parts and personal weapons. Dahlgen quietly entered the medical suite and exhaled in frustration as he observed Dawna sleeping peacefully on the bed. In the dim light given off by the diagnostic terminal, Dawna looked as peaceful as a newborn child, yet he was all too aware of just how close she had come to her end. _Why the hell did you have to go after those Moffs_, Dahlgen asked himself.

A particularly annoying green light was flashing from one monitor and Dahlgen reached over to shut it off. Apparently HK had to access some files on Sith pureblood physiology when he'd removed the shrapnel from Dawna's body. Dahlgen made a mental note to program HK with everything he could find on Sith pureblood physiology in the near future.

Though HK often complained about his medical programming, Dahlgen was grateful he had it. A few years ago as a partial payment for an arms run that Dahlgen had made to the Rebel Alliance, he accepted three nearly defunct MD series medical droids… an MD-1 diagnostician, an MD-2 anesthesiologist and an MD-4 surgical specialist. All three droids had been heavily damaged and Dahlgen figured not knowing how or why was best. Still, he'd brought the droids to a friend of his and paid her a considerable sum of credits to salvage what she could from them.

In the end, only a few things were saved. Chief among these was their programming and the medical files stored in their central memory cores. All three of the droids' internal databanks had been poured into a single matrix that had been programmed into HK's own central memory core. This made HK capable of performing the tasks of all three droids. Mentally being able to perform them wasn't enough however. The right arm of the MD-4 had been salvaged and rebuilt to be interchangeable with HK's own true right arm. When interchanged with HK's arm and coupled with the medical files stored in HK's memory, it continued to perform its function as one would expect it to as the hand contained several delicate instruments for performing surgery.

But HK's left arm was interchangeable too. The first arm piece was the corresponding left arm from the MD-4 surgical droid. The second piece was the left arm of the MD-2 anesthesiologist droid. It contained a cup shaped hand and was used for delivering a wide variety of anesthetic gasses in preparation for surgery. Normally connected to an internal tank of gas, this was hardly practical for HK who was constantly mobile. So some rebuilding of the medical suite had taken place where the gas tank was located in a storage compartment near the bed. To make the gas flow, HK had to interchange the arm and connect a special hose near the elbow. He then had to instruct the medical computer how much gas to administer which was governed by a master lockout in case HK told the computer to give the wrong dose, either accidentally or intentionally.

So far, HK had been flawless in his performance of medical procedures. Not that he did it often though. No one else on the team was aware of it but despite his assassin's programming, HK had developed a sort of bodyguard mentality towards the other members of Force Revanchist. Because of that, it would be extremely out of character for HK to ever raise his weapons against one of them even without the special program Dahlgen had installed during construction that forbade it.

Dahlgen pulled the sheet further up on Dawna which she unconsciously grabbed and snuggled against. For a moment he stared at her sleeping form, then gave her a gentle pat on the forehead. She stirred a little, but didn't wake. He exhaled heavily. "I'm sorry Dawna," he whispered.

Dahlgen left the medical suite and wandered farther back in the ship coming to an intersection of sorts. At either end were the hatches leading to the escape pods and access points to the maintenance crawlways. In the middle of the intersection was the access tower that contained an elevator which led to the dorsal airlock and a ladder that led to both the dorsal and ventral quad laser banks. Further down were the bulkheads leading to the cargo rooms along with main and backup cargo pod capture controls.

At the far end of the corridor was the door leading to the engineering section. Dahlgen went inside, had a seat at the engineer's station on the left and made his own diagnostic test of the hyperdrive and sublight engines. Not that he didn't trust Gee Tee. Dahlgen just sometimes felt better of a test's results when he had conducted it personally. Hmm, that was interesting. The hyperdive had a very, very faint fluctuation in it. It wasn't anything to be immediately concerned about, but the problem would continue to get worse if the hyperdrive wasn't rebalanced and calibrated soon. He'd have Gee Tee do that once they had arrived at their destination.

The hyperdrive in the _Silver Horizon_ now wasn't the factory original. Normally outfitted with a Class Two hyperdrive and a Class Ten backup, Dahlgen had completely gutted the original hyperdrive units with the help of a friend eight years ago. Though the job had been tedious and incredibly frustrating at times, the _Silver Horizon_ now sported a state of the art, Class Point Five hyperdrive and a Class One backup.

Dahlgen walked over to the other side of the engineering section to the area known as the machine shop. Looked like someone had been doing some tinkering with something and forgotten to put the tools they had been using away. Probably his son, but one could never be too sure. He'd have to fuss at everyone about that later on. Not only was it just bad practice to leave things lying about, but if something went wrong on the ship, it could be dangerous. A carelessly discarded hydrospanner or other such instrument could easily turn into a deadly projectile if the ship made a hard turn or went careening out of control.

He put the tools back in the storage locker which also contained two large collapsible bunks that were used by Forndak and Chenlamabec whenever they traveled with Force Revanchist. Due to their large size, they most often found trying to sleep in any of the staterooms uncomfortable to say the least. So as was most often the case, they slept here in the engineering section. Neither of them minded; at least the bunks were large enough to support them and the engineering section was more than spacious enough for them both. However, if one or both of them got to snoring, it was near deafening for anyone else in the room trying to do some work.

Overall, life on the _Silver Horizon_ was very pleasant all things considered. Whoever the previous owners of the ship had been had taken great pains to ensure it remained in prime condition and Dahlgen had continued that tradition ever since it had landed in his care. He was proud of his vessel and secretly wanted to test it against that Solo guy's vessel with some old fashioned smuggler's games. What was its name? Ah, the _Millennium Falcon_. On paper, the _Horizon_ had the edge in offensive weaponry and armor plating, but the Falcon appeared to have the advantage in shielding and speed and neither vessel had a clear advantage when it came to maneuverability. Dahlgen held no illusions that a contest between the two vessels would come down to a decision of who was the better pilot that day.

Ah well, that wasn't likely to happen, so he'd have to be content just day dreaming about it. Dahlgen wandered back towards the front of the ship and entered his private quarters. Taking a seat at the communications console, he called up a specific frequency and location, and hailed it. He doubted anyone would answer at this hour. She'd probably be sleeping and wouldn't hear the summons.

Much to his surprise however, someone did respond. The image of a shapely female Zabrak with sandy brown hair and a crown of seven horns appeared on the viewscreen. She was wearing a set of lacy red, rather skimpy underwear and hadn't bothered to see who was calling. The Zabrak woman yawned loudly and spoke sleepily into the transceiver. "If this isn't an insanely handsome man, I'm disconnecting this call right now."

Dahlgen was used to the woman's greetings. "Sorry to disappoint you Raquel old friend, but it's me."

At the sound of her friend's voice, Raquel awakened a bit more. "Ah the fortunes are smiling on me tonight. It is indeed an insanely handsome man calling me."

Dahlgen laughed. Despite the fact that she was a good ten years older than him, Raquel had been trying for years to get Dahlgen to declare his undying love for her. Though it was irritating from time to time, in general he found the whole thing humorous as Raquel was just a little too left of center for his taste. _ Oh brother, here we go,_ Dahlgen thought.

Raquel smiled. "Dahlgen my friend, do you have any idea what time it is here?"

"Late enough for every living thing near you to be comatose right now is my guess."

"You'd be right Dahlgen," Raquel replied. She took a second to assess her friend's appearance. "And by the looks of it, it's late wherever you are."

"We left Zeltros a few hours ago."

"Ah, I take it then that your mission was successful?"

"More or less," Dahlgen said quietly.

Something in Dahlgen's tone didn't sit right with Raquel and she eyed him quizzically. "I don't like the sound of that. What happened?"

"The usual," Dahlgen confessed. "But this time Dawna got hurt."

Raquel was fully alert now and she took in a long breath, dreading her next question. "Is she…"

"She's alive," Dahlgen gestured and Raquel was immediately put at ease. "She took a grenade blast right in the back. The shrapnel tore her up pretty good. But fortunately her head was spared and we were able to extract all the pieces and repair what damage had been done."

"I don't know what to say Dahlgen," Raquel said. "I'm so sorry."

"She's not dead Raquel, though I appreciate the thought," Dahlgen answered. "HK truly earned his keep tonight so I thank you for all your help with him… despite the outrageous prices you charge."

In her legitimate line of work, Raquel was widely known as one of the best droid mechanics on Telos. She was in fact the one who had helped Dahlgen with HK's medical programming. Other than Cronus, Raquel was the only one that Dahlgen trusted to help maintain HK-87 and R2-GT2. As HK had once put it, "This Zabrak meatbag's talent at maintaining droids is well worth the annoyances I must endure while sitting in her shop."

"Glad to do it," Raquel replied and insisted on defending herself. "Never let it be said that Raquel Pherredyne didn't do all she could to satisfy her clients. And as for my prices, please don't forget that those two droids are prime constructs, not to mention the Gee Tee's eccentricity. I sometimes have to charge prime rates to give you what you want." She got a seductive gleam in her eye. "Of course there is that special discount rate I offered you. It's still available if you want it."

Dahlgen rolled his eyes as he vividly recalled exactly what the "terms" of that discount rate were. A lot of sexual intimacy coupled with a wedding ring, neither of which he intended to give her. "Thanks," Dahlgen told her. "But I'd just assume pay full price."

Raquel pouted. "Hey Dahlgen, you can't blame me for trying. After all, what girl wouldn't be attracted to man like you?"

Dahlgen's hand shot up to his forehead with a loud smack. "Oh you are laying in on thick Raquel."

"Like I said Dahlgen, can't blame a girl for trying," Raquel protested.

Dahlgen felt like he was losing control of the conversation and that if he didn't regain it quick, then what he did contact Raquel for would never get accomplished. "Getting back to the point here Raquel," Dahlgen insisted. "If I remember correctly, that gala that is happening at the Governor's Mansion on Kestos Minor is in a few days, is that right?"

Raquel nodded. "Yeah, that's right. It's a reception for a lot of visiting dignitaries, officials, industry tycoons and other rich big wigs. If you ask me, it's a big smokescreen to show the galaxy how wonderful everything supposedly is in the wake of the Kwymar Suppressions."

Dahlgen leaned forward in his seat. "Any changes?"

Raquel rolled her eyes. "No Dahlgen. Thani still lies in ruins and people are dead by the thousands, if not tens of thousands. The Empire really decided to make an example out of this region. Even now, they're still cracking down on anything that remotely seems like insurrection all across Telos. And it's not just here. It's all across the sector. Doniphon, Picutorion, Artus Prime, Spuma and even Kestos Minor itself. They've all been hammered and a few of them are still getting hammered. But you know all that of course. Local underground reports are calling it the Kwymar Massacre."

Dahlgen pursed his lips. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, several planets and corresponding planetary militias of the Kwymar Sector banded together in a massive effort to oust the Empire from the sector. Though they had enjoyed some success early in the campaign, Imperial retribution was swift and decisive. The might of the Empire had rolled over the various planetary militias with overwhelming force, slaughtering them almost to the last man. With their armed forces virtually wiped out, the planets of Kwymar Sector signaled their surrender. But as the citizens of the sector were to soon learn, the Empire wasn't satisfied with merely crushing their uprising.

The Empire's war machine began decimating the communities of the Kwymar Sector, turning their guns against the helpless civilians that populated the planets. Whole cities were reduced to rubble. Crops and fields were set ablaze. Monuments and other sources of planetary pride that had been around for countless generations were obliterated. Thousands were dragged from their homes and murdered in the streets and thousands more were taken into custody as political prisoners and shipped off to an uncertain future elsewhere in galaxy.

Dahlgen and the others had just left Telos on another mission when the crackdown in the Kwymar Sector began and they hadn't been back to Telos since. They all had little doubt that some of the people they knew and associated with on Telos were dead at this point. And while Dahlgen did not appreciate Raquel's constant lustful advances towards him, he was glad she had survived the ordeal so far. The wily Zabrak had sensed trouble when the uprising in the Kwymar Sector had begun and she had taken immediate steps to ensure her safety, for when the Imperials came looking for revenge. Even so, Raquel was still shocked to the core of her being by just how severe that revenge was.

"So how are you holding up?"

"Personally?" Raquel winked at him. "Well I'd be a lot better if I had you here to keep me company."

"Raquel…" Dahlgen growled.

"All right, all right," Raquel conceded raising her hands in submission. "I'm still in hiding Dahlgen, but I'm getting by. I've got my computers, a few droids to tinker with and enough supplies to keep me hidden for several more weeks. May not be much, but even here I'm still able to keep my ears open."

Dahlgen smiled as he could always count on Raquel to be on the lookout of intel. Very little went on in the Kwymar Sector, and Telos in particular, that she did not know something about. That was true even if Raquel wasn't supposed to know about it. How she was able to keep effective tabs on what was happening in her little corner of the galaxy was something she never discussed and Dahlgen never asked about. "About that gala on Kestos Minor… how difficult would it be for you to whip up some invitations to that Raquel?"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "With all of your connections, I'm surprised you didn't get a legitimate invitation to the event."

"I did," Dahlgen replied. "Or rather Vincent Bralor did." He was referring to the alias that the galaxy at large knew him as. "But I'm only allowed to bring one guest and one droid. I need two more of my team to be there to do a little snooping around."

Even though Raquel was legitimately a droid tech, did fine work and was well paid for her services, there were a few "side businesses" she was involved in. Chief among these was what she, and others like her, called "information and identification brokering." Like Cronus, Raquel was an expert hacker who was constantly tapping in to all sorts of "hack proof" computer systems and data bases, then selling off the information she discovered. That was often the Rebel Alliance or Dahlgen, but she did have a crime boss or two on her regular payroll as well. Unlike Cronus however, Raquel pretty much just limited herself to Kwymar Sector and did not have his knowledge of electronics. Despite this, the two of them had collaborated on some projects in the past.

But all that paled in comparison to Raquel's specialty… the fine art of document forging. The quality of her work was second to none and she was widely regarded by many sources as one of the best forgers in the Kwymar Sector, if not the entire Outer Rim. Force Revanchist had made use of her forgery skills several times in the past with countless documents like phony identification papers, shipping manifests and even official Imperial orders on occasion. To date, they had never been disappointed with the results.

"So, can you pull it off?" Dahlgen inquired.

"That's a tall order Dahlgen," Raquel admitted. "I'd have to take a look at your legitimate invitation to make a copy that will pass inspection."

"I assumed as much. I'll send that off to you right away."

"So who do you want to be at the gala with you?" Raquel asked.

"Dijas and Katya. Dijas for the extra muscle and Katya simply because she's Katya. You'd be surprised how loose lips can get around a Lethan Twi'lek, particularly one as attractive as Katya," Dahlgen answered.

"No I wouldn't," Raquel stated. "I assume you'll be taking Dawna as your guest?"

"Of course," Dahlgen replied. "Who else would I take?"

"Well I thought maybe for once you'd take me as your guest," Raquel replied with a smile. "No such luck I guess."

Once again, Dahlgen's hand impacted his forehead with a loud smack. "Oh brother, I should've seen that one coming."

"Yes, you should have," Raquel agreed.

Dahlgen almost feared his next question. "How much is this going to set me back Raquel?"

A playful smile appeared on Raquel's features. "Tell you what Dahlgen, for you and today only, it's on the house."

That was not the answer Dahlgen had been hoping for. The last time something had been "on the house" Dahlgen had been suckered into taking Raquel to a holo-picture. That was an experience he did not wish to repeat, especially since Raquel had spent most of the time unsuccessfully trying to seduce him instead of watching the flick. "What do you want Raquel? I don't want an instant replay of last time something was on the house."

"Nothing Dahlgen," Raquel said innocently. "This one is totally on the house. No strings attached. I promise."

Dahlgen didn't believe her, but elected to let it go for the moment. He'd find out whatever it was that Raquel had up her sleeve eventually.

"Dahlgen, you look like hell," Raquel spoke softly. She leaned forward, making sure Dahlgen had a good view of her cleavage. "Why don't you just sit back there and let me help you relax?"

_Oh boy, here it comes._ "Just what did you have in mind Raquel?"

"Well I don't know Dahlgen," Raquel admitted. She lightly ran her hands over her own body and licked her lips as seductively as she could manage. "But I'm sure I can find some way to help you relax."

_She never quits._ "Thanks Raquel," Dahlgen said. "I'll pass on that."

Raquel pouted and sat back in her chair. "You don't know what you're missing big guy."

_Oh yes I do._ "Just make sure those documents I want are ready in time for that reception," Dahlgen demanded. "I've had enough surprises for one week and I don't want to be going to this thing without backup."

"Have I ever let you down before Dahlgen?" Raquel asked. She turned in her seat so that he had a profile view of her. Kicking her legs up in the air, she tried another seductive pose. "Last chance Dahlgen."

"Good night Raquel," Dahlgen said smiling as he terminated the call.

Raquel pouted again. "Suit yourself Dahlgen baby," she said an instant before the screen went black.

After the transmission had ended, Dahlgen sat rubbing his forehead. That Raquel, she was like an oversexed teenager who just never quit. Despite Dahlgen's repeated rejections of her advances, she kept trying to seduce him. It had almost become a game between them, but it still drove Dahlgen crazy. He couldn't understand women who blindly threw themselves at men in general, and him in particular. He tolerated Raquel because of her skills with droids and forgery but that was about it.

Not that Raquel was easy. Actually she was far from it. In all the years he'd known her, Dahlgen had never seen Raquel make or accept any sort of romantic advances from any other male. And Raquel was definitely not lacking in male attention. But for some strange reason, Raquel had decided some time ago that Dahlgen was the man for her even though he had never given her any indication that he reciprocated those intentions. And Raquel was a free spirit. He didn't think there was any possible way she was ready to be tied down and be a mother to his son.

Dahlgen smiled. At just fourteen years of age, Marsala was his father's pride and joy and he was every bit a descendant of Revan just like his old man. At the age of two, Marsala's latent Force talents had begun to manifest themselves and Dahlgen had really struggled trying to keep them concealed. Later, as Marsala had gotten older, Dahlgen had begun to train him in the responsible use of such power. He was already quite adept with a lightsaber and several other Force techniques, but he was still nowhere close to a Jedi of Dahlgen's, Dawna's or Katya's caliber. Still, Dahlgen doubted it would be long before Marsala could stand with them all as they continued to do their small part to undermine the Empire and its policies.

Dahlgen moved from the chair to his double bunk. As he lay there resting his eyes, he thought about Marsala's mother. He'd lost her when Marsala was just an infant and it had affected him deeply. Being only eighteen and a single father, Dahlgen had anxiously wondered how they would survive. The depression that had sunk in had nearly torn Dahlgen apart. But he knew for the sake of his new son, he had to go on. "Continue on with the mission," was what the Clone Troopers had often said to each other. Now he said it to himself.

That was why Dahlgen had become a galactic trader and smuggler, plying the Outer Rim in the Ebon Hawk and taking most of the jobs he could find. The pay was about as good as one could expect, but thanks to some study into the life of an ancient Jedi named Barrison Draay and some other self learned lessons in economics, investing and business, he'd been able to grow his fortune substantially in a rather short period of time. Dahlgen sometimes wondered how Revan had acquired such knowledge, but then knowing probably wouldn't make a difference one way or the other.

Though he had largely retired from the smuggling business now, Dahlgen still did it every so often and then mostly for the Rebel Alliance. He had three rules when it came to smuggling… no drugs, no slaves and no dark side artifacts. And absolutely no deviance from those rules was tolerated. Everything else such as guns, medical supplies, droid parts and other items were fair game. Rumored light Force artifacts were tolerated at triple Dahlgen's normal rate. And Dahlgen often "inspected" the rumored artifact for authenticity. His suppliers never knew that most of the legitimate artifacts ended up in his own personal collection and the phony ones were resold on open market. But no drugs, slaves or dark artifacts. That was the rule and most respected it.

A few of the two-bit criminals that Dahlgen had done smuggling runs for in the past had tried to get Dahlgen to change his mind about those rules. Some had tried to convince him with persuasion. Others had tried to convince him with blasters. None of them had succeeded in their attempts as they quickly learned Dahlgen was not going to budge. Most had learned over a glass of ale; a few had to be taught over the business ends of his double saber. One had even made the mistake of threatening to take the _Silver Horizon_ away from Dahlgen. But with the _Horizon_ belonging to Dahlgen free and clear, some two-bit criminal was not about to weasel it away from him. And if that meant a show of force so be it. Needless to say, everyone got the message one way or another.

Dahlgen had made some rather unique friends during his career as a smuggler, Raquel being one of them. Some of those contacts had worked their way into the Rebel Alliance when it was first formed. As a result, Dahlgen had begun to accept smuggling missions for them. The pay for those missions was almost nothing, but Dahlgen didn't care. He had made such a vast fortune from his other businesses that he didn't need it.

Though the loss of Marsala's mother had happened years ago, it still affected Dahlgen now and it wasn't a subject he liked to talk about in front of others. No one else in his team knew much about her, not even Dawna. And although Marsala knew of her, he never asked about her. As far as he was concerned, Dawna was the closest thing he had to a mother and that was that. For that, Dahlgen was forever grateful.

With his head filled with thoughts of his son, Dawna and his other friends, blissful sleep finally claimed the weary Jedi warrior.

Smoke… fire… explosions. It was all around her. What was happening? She opened her eyes. Looking up at the sky, she saw it was darkened by smoke and wisps of flame appeared in her field of vision every now and then. She tried to move but couldn't and realized she was being restrained by the arms of another person. Turning to look at who it was she saw she was being held in place by a woman who was quite dead. She struggled to get free, but she just couldn't break the death embrace of the woman, whoever she was, that was holding her back.

Then it hit her… the pain. Oh the pain! It was so excruciating it nearly caused her to pass out. Her stomach was wet from something and it felt like it was on fire. She tried to call out for help. But to her surprise, she just didn't seem to be able to form the words. All that escaped her lips was a baby's cry.

Oh Gods, what was that? That metallic clanking noise? She turned her head to the side and saw dozens of armed droids coming towards her. They hadn't seen her yet, but they were shooting at something that had gotten their attention. It got her attention now too. A new noise she could hear. Some kind of humming sound. It appeared to be reacting to whatever the approaching droids were doing.

The droids were getting closer! Terrified, she tried to call for help again but as with before she could only cry like a baby. All right if that was only way she could make her presence known, so be it. She let out a cry as loud as her lungs would let her.

The humming noise! It stopped! Had the droids destroyed it whatever it was? No wait, there it was again. Only it was closer to her now. Was it coming for her like the droids were? She didn't want to die all alone out here, wherever here was. Oh that pain. Why did her stomach hurt so much? She couldn't even raise her head to see. She cried out in fear and agony again.

_Where are you?!_

What was that? A voice! A male voice! Someone had heard her. She slowly turned her head in the direction she thought the voice had come from. But all could see was thick black smoke and angry flames. Desperate to get the attention of whoever had called to her, she began yelling, screaming, crying and struggling. Whoever was there had to find her. He had to!

_Where are you?!_

Startled awake by the dream, Dawna suddenly sat up in bed with a gasp. Her heart was racing and with wide eyes, she looked around frantically in all directions. She expected to find herself in the middle of a raging battle. But it was strange. Everything was dark and quiet. Only the faint lights of a diagnostic computer terminal could be seen nearby. What happened? Where was she? Where was the battle?

Breathing heavily, it started to dawn on her that she was not in battle, but rather the _Silver Horizon's_ medical suite. Closing her eyes, she turned her attention to her breathing and nearly out of control heart rate. Focusing on the quiet calmness around her, she began to clam down and bring her body functions back under control. And she sensed something odd. Dahlgen was asleep elsewhere in the ship. She'd never sensed that before, but decided to use that to help her center herself. There, that was better.

Dawna remembered now that she'd leaped to save Dahlgen from the grenade blast and how she had nearly died from it. She'd felt his attempts to heal her unsuccessful at first. But somehow, he saved her anyway with the help of some unique trait. What had he called it? A bond? Yes, he'd said they were bonded.

Bonded? What had he meant by that? Curious to investigate, she concentrated on her own Force essence and was startled to discover Dahlgen's own essence imprinted over her own. It was like ink on paper. She still had her own unique essence but it had been influenced, changed by the fact that his now overlapped it. That explained how she'd been able to know a minute ago that he was asleep. This was weird and she wasn't sure she liked it.

A shock of cold brought her back to reality and it was then that she realized that not only was she drenched in cold sweat, she was wearing only what the Force had given her. Wrapping the sheet around herself and retrieving her lingerie from a nearby table, she scooted next door to the refresher for a quick shower, her back complaining about the effort the whole time.

That dream she'd had about lying helpless in the middle of a battle was one she'd had before, though not recently. It was the same thing every time. She woke up lying helpless on the ground and restrained by some woman. She would realize she was hurt and cry out only to discover she was nearly an infant and unable to truly speak. And her stomach always burned with an intensity that would cause most other people to pass out in instant. She'd hear the sounds of the battle and the sound of someone searching for her.

But who was looking for her? Her father? Someone else? And where was she? In all the years she'd been having that dream, she had never been able to figure out exactly where she was. She recalled first having that dream when she was about four years old and it scared her so bad, she hadn't been able to sleep for days. Since then, she'd had it about once every month or so. But as time went on, the frequency of it lessened until she was having it only once a year. But it had been at approximately the same time each year. And then about six years ago, she'd stopped having the dream completely.

Six years ago? That was right about when she'd joined Force Revanchist. Did Dahlgen or one of the others have something to do with why she hadn't had that dream in so long? If so, why had it suddenly come back after all this time?

As Dawna finished her shower and slipped into her lingerie, she decided she needed to talk to Dahlgen about this. Right now. She didn't care if he was sleeping. She wanted some answers.

_Dahlgen… Dahlgen…_

_Hmmm?_

_Dahlgen, focus on me._

_Who's there?_

_Dahlgen, you know who I am._

In the blackness, a face appeared before Dahlgen one remarkably similar to his own. His skin was deeply tanned and weathered, an all too apparent distinction of a life lived out in the elements. His long dark hair was tied in a tight tail and he had the kindest eyes of anyone Dahlgen had known. The man's short but neatly trimmed mustache and beard only helped to magnify the aura of majesty Dahlgen felt in his presence.

_Lord Revan._

The face of Revan smiled. _Glad to see you again my boy._

_Am I – I dreaming?_

_Dreams are but one of many manifestations of the Force young Dahlgen, _Revan explained. _As you know from prior experience, most people barely even notice this. However, for people sensitive to its power, it becomes yet another avenue with which communication is possible._ Revan's face grew serious. _Listen carefully to me Dahlgen, for I do not have much time and what I have to convey cannot wait. It concerns Dawna._

Dahlgen grew anxious. _What about her? Is she…_

_Rest easy son, she is fine._ Revan's voice was comforting and reassuring. _You have done a fine job of training her and keeping her safe. I am proud of you._

_Thank you for your praise Lord Revan._

_Thanks are not necessary Dahlgen. You've earned it. Now you must teach her more._

Dahlgen was a little perplexed._ What do you mean?_

_Dahlgen, training Dawna to be a good Jedi is not enough. _Revan spoke to him in a fatherly tone._ Now that you know that the two of you are linked like Bastila and I are, you will have to start training Dawna how to be a member of the family._

_A member of the family?_

Revan's face took on a stern expression. _I didn't stutter, did I? Yes Dahlgen… a member of the family._

_What must I do Revan?_

_There are several things you must teach her my boy. And the proper time to teach her each of those things will come to you in the fullness of time. For now you must teach her how to live with and accept the bond that the two of you share. Later you will have to teach her its benefits, how it can be used as well as its potential dangers._

_But why must I do so?_

_Because you both are going to need it if you are to survive the trials ahead. And make no mistake about it, they are many and incredibly dangerous._

_I… don't know if I can._

_You do not have a choice Dahlgen. If you do not teach her like one of the family, then everything you hope to achieve and accomplish is never going to come to fruition. Remember what I have told you before… one who does not heed the counsel of the Force, to the dark side listens._

_Yes, I know._

_And what is the Force telling you to do?_

_To do precisely as you say Revan,_ Dahlgen admitted honestly.

_Very good my boy. Dahlgen, bear in mind that the bond between the two of you was forged twenty years ago, even if you weren't aware of it until a few hours ago. Regardless, when it was forged she became a part of you as you became a part of her, _Revan lectured his descendant. _Your destinies… your very lives are intertwined and dependent on each other. You and Dawna will forever be linked in this way, even after you both become one with the Force. You cannot undo it, nor can you simply ignore it. To do so would be both foolish and dangerous to you both._

_I know Revan, I know._

_Then why are you so reluctant?_

_You know why Revan._

Revan waved his hand dismissively. _Bah! You're still blaming yourself for that? Dahlgen, everyone is responsible for their own path in life. Nothing more, nothing less. One cannot blame themselves for the decisions of someone else, even if those decisions were wrong and no matter the consequences. Your own Master Zaitsev would agree with me._

_But what if Dawna makes the wrong decisions?_

_That is a risk you will have to take,_ Revan admitted. _But do try to remember that Dawna has the benefit of studying under you. And you carry the wisdom and knowledge of many great masters. Granted, most of those are previous generations of your own family but it doesn't matter. Despite her species, Dawna has a kind heart, a generous spirit and a loving soul. But after being bonded with her for twenty years, you already know this to be true even if you didn't know the bond existed. It is understandable for you to be apprehensive Dahlgen. But as I said, you do not have a choice in this matter._

Dahlgen didn't answer him, but he suspected Revan was right.

_Do not concern yourself with this any longer Dahlgen. Dawna is a strong woman and she will trust your judgment. But you've got to trust her as well Dahlgen. More importantly, you've got to trust yourself too. Do not be afraid to turn to her for comfort, guidance and support when you need it Dahlgen. She will not be afraid to turn to you._

"Dahlgen… Dahlgen…"

Now what? What was that interrupting his slumber? Noise. Very loud noise. Dannix was snoring ridiculously loud in his stateroom. Even with his door closed, he sometimes snored loud enough to keep everyone else awake if he was tired enough. It was next to impossible to ignore the racket when it happened. Barely conscious, he reached for his pillow and clamped it down over his ears. That was a little better.

"Dahlgen…"

But a voice? It wasn't just Dannix's clamor that was disturbing him. A female voice. Slowly the enveloping blackness that surrounded his consciousness began to be dotted with bursts of soft light. The faint hum of the Horizon's hyperdrive reached his ears and he was also faintly aware of Gee Tee monitoring the ship's flight in the cockpit and HK patrolling the corridors.

"Dahlgen…"

The blackness was almost completely gone now and with a muffled groan, Dahlgen's eyes fluttered open. The dim light above his bunk was on but in his sleep dulled state it might as well have been a star burning in front of his face. "Gahhh," he groaned and shielded his eyes from it. Dahlgen blinked several times in an attempt to adjust his vision and looked curiously around.

Dawna was kneeling on the floor next to his bunk. She smiled when he turned to face her.

Dahlgen was surprised by the revelation. "Dawna," he whispered. "Wh-what are you doing here? And what in the blazes is the time?"

"It's very late Dahlgen, I'm sorry I woke you," Dawna confessed. "But I… I sensed you were restless and I came to check on you."

Dahlgen rolled on to his left side facing her and propped himself up on his elbow. "Shouldn't you be in the med suite resting?"

"Probably," Dawna admitted with a sigh. "Force knows I am sore from the whole ordeal. "But I… I had to come here and be sure you were okay."

Dahlgen smiled at his Sith friend. "I appreciate it Dawna. I'm fine, really."

"I'm glad Dahgen," Dawna replied and for several seconds afterwards, they merely looked at one another. She had come with the intention of asking him some questions, but now that she was actually here, she was rethinking that idea. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to barge in on him like this after all. She broke the awkward pause and started to rise. "Well, I suppose I'd better get back to the med suite before HK wonders where I wandered off to."

Something within Dahlgen encouraged him to reach out to Dawna at that moment. To stop her from leaving. "Dawna…" he said as his right hand gently took hers. Much to Dahlgen's surprise, she didn't pull away from the unexpected contact and her fingers curled around his.

"Yes?"

"I sense you're troubled. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Dawna said quietly.

Dahlgen bowed his head. "I'm so sorry Dawna," he said. "I should've been aware of what was going on and the potential dangers. I hope you don't blame me."

His statement caught Dawna off guard. "Blame you? Blame you for what Dahlgen?"

"My reckless decision to try and capture those Moffs and allowing you to get hurt," Dahlgen replied. "For not doing something more to ensure your safety."

It pained Dawna to see Dahlgen beating himself up over what had happened and she eased herself back into a sitting position. "Oh Dahlgen, that wasn't your fault. You did what you thought was right and I followed you because I believed in your decision. You had no idea the grenade was going to land where it did. Neither did I. And when it did land, my only thoughts were of you and making sure that you didn't get hurt. What I did back there, I'd do again in a heartbeat."

"I know you would Dawna," Dahlgen nodded. "And that's what scares me. My decision nearly cost you your life. I don't want to just lead you, or anyone else for that matter, to their death."

"I know that Dahlgen," Dawna assured him. She smiled. "But who was it that once told me that there are certain rules about war and that rule number one is good people die? And rule number two is that no matter how hard you try, you can't change rule number one?"

Dahlgen chuckled when Dawna repeated his own words to him.

"Now please don't misunderstand me," Dawna explained. "I have absolutely no intention of going out and needlessly sacrificing myself. But if something was to happen to me, or to any of us, I hope in my heart of hearts you wouldn't take it personally."

"That's just it Dawna, I'm not sure I couldn't," Dahlgen said. He smiled reassuringly. "Well for getting between me and that grenade, I won't forget it. Thanks."

Dawna smiled at his genuine gratitude. "You're welcome Dahlgen. In the six years I've known you, I've always done my best to have your back. I'm not about to change that. Not for anything." She shifted slightly and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She really wanted to ask him some questions, but she was still hesitating. Dahlgen had to prompt it out of her.

"What Dawna?"

Dawna cocked her head to one side as she considered her words. "When you healed me earlier, you told me that we were bonded through the Force. I-I just wanted to know, what happened? How did this happen? What is this bond and what does it mean for us?"

Dahlgen took a deep breath. He wanted to tell Dawna what he knew. He wanted to tell her that he had healed her as a young child on the battlefields of Christophsis and that their bond had been forged as a result. But this whole Force bond thing was new to them both and while he had the benefit of having studied the bond between his ancestors, she had no such benefit. Dahlgen felt that divulging the truth right away about how this bond was formed might be too overwhelming for her considereing everything else that had happened in the last few hours. He knew he would have to tell her the truth one day, and perhaps one day soon. But not yet. Now was just too soon.

"I really don't know Dawna," Dahlgen told her. "I could come up with a bunch of theories regarding that, any or all of which could be correct. How it happened… that's a little more difficult to explain, but I'll try. Seeing you badly hurt and near death really affected me. And I was determined to do everything I could to save you. When I did heal you, I had to use my own Force essence to augment my powers. And when it found yours, they came together and it boosted your Force powers. That aided greatly in your healing, much as it would if I were to heal someone else. But unlike every other time, when I was done our essences refused to completely separate. They left imprints on the other person much like footprints in mud or fingerprints on a glass. But unlike those, the imprints we left on each other will be there forever Dawna."

"Forever?" Dawna seemed to be struggling with that idea. "Is there any way to undo this?"

Dahlgen was a little disappointed that she had asked that question, but it wasn't entirely unexpected either. "My ancestors, Revan and Bastila shared a similar bond between them. I have studied what few records they made of it quite extensively. They discovered that there are two ways such a bond can be undone. One is for our feelings towards one another to change completely."

Dawna folded her arms over her chest and looked at Dahlgen with a semi-irritated expression. "Feelings? Just what feelings are you talking about?"

"Nothing romantic if that's what you're getting at Dawna," Dahlgen backpedaled quickly. "However, for my part at least, even though you have not been with us as long as some of the others, you are my best friend and my closest confidant. Always have been from the minute I met you. And Force knows with the possible exception of my son, there isn't a soul among us that I can rely on more. Since the day you joined us you've been by my side no matter what. And for that, I am forever indebted to you. From the bottom of my heart Dawna, thank you."

Dawna's smile was wide and bright as she reached up and held his hand. "For what Dahlgen?"

"For being all that you are to me and more."

Dawna was silent or a moment and she took a deep breath while contemplating her next statement. "No charge Dahlgen. You are, after all, all those things to me as well."

"I'm pleased that you feel that way Dawna," Dahlgen smiled briefly. "But now you understand what I'm saying. It would take a complete reversal of those feelings to undo this bond. We would have to become mortal enemies to each other."

Dawna's smiled faded away. "I can't ever picture you as my enemy."

"Neither did Revan and Bastila," Dahlgen reminded her. "And yet for a short time when Darth Malak lured Bastila to the dark side, they were exactly that; mortal enemies. Even so, enough of their bond remained intact. And Revan was able to exploit that and remind Bastila of just who she really was and what they shared. That was what saved them both."

Dawna took it all into consideration. "You mentioned a second way this bond could be undone. What's the other way?"

Dahlgen didn't really want to discuss the second way but he'd opened the door so there was no getting around it. "The other way it can be undone is if one of us were to die," Dahlgen replied. "In the end though Dawna, it doesn't matter. Regardless of how such a bond would be undone, the echo of it will never completely go away. It would just be an empty hollow hole in the very fiber of your being; a festering wound that would never completely heal."

Dahlgen could tell from Dawna's reaction that she was frightened by that possibility. But what exactly it was about it that frightened her he didn't know. "As for what it means," he continued. "We will be more in touch with one another. More aware of what the other is doing or is going to do. With just a little bit of concentration we will know what the other is thinking, feeling, their general emotional state, tune in to the other's senses, carry on telepathic conversation over great distances. The list is near limitless and mind boggling. Our connection to Force will be greatly enhanced as well. Not only will we be able to draw on our own reserves of power, but we will also be able to tap into the reserves of the other when necessary. It will bring tremendous power when it is needed. But with that it will also bring an added responsibility when it comes to the use of that power. What affects one of us can also affect the other, either beneficially or adversely."

Dawna took another deep breath as Dahlgen's words sank in. "Beneficially or adversely? You make sound as if our very lives depend on the state of this bond."

"That Dawna, is exactly what I am saying." Dahlgen gently squeezed her hand. "Look, Dawna, I know that this link between us is new and it will take some time to get used to and even longer to truly master it. And getting used to it may be frustrating to one or both of us or it may not. Neither of us really knows what we're doing or how it's going to affect us in the end. I apologize if this has upset you in any way. I didn't want to heal you by forcing something at you that you may not be ready for. But I didn't know what else to do."

"Dahlgen stop," Dawna said. "You did what you had to. You saved my life. How can you even think that this was forced on me or that I'm upset with you? Okay, we'll have some "growing pains" as we both try to get used to this new reality. But I look forward to discovering all there is to discover about this… this gift we've been given.

"Me too Dawna. Me too," Dahlgen spoke softly. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

Dawna opened her mouth to respond, but she suddenly couldn't find the words to say. "I-I'd better get back to bed."

Dahlgen realized he'd said his last statement almost automatically. It was more than he probably should've and he silently cursed himself. Releasing her hand, he quietly said, "Okay. Sleep well Dawna."

As she stood in the doorway of Dahlgen's room poised to leave, Dawna looked back over her shoulder. He looked peaceful and content stretched out on his bunk and for a split second, Dawna found herself longing to be lying next to him. "Dahlgen?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. Thank you for saving my life." _I don't know what I'd do if I lost you either._ Dawna never saw the smile that appeared on his face.

"You're welcome."


	5. The Descendant: Chapter 5

**The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 5**

_Atrivis Sector, Mustafar System_

_4.7 months after the Battle of Yavin_

Rebel Task Force Kwymar was an impressive sight to anyone that wasn't used to seeing an armada of warships clustered together. Composed of a single _Venator_-class Star Destroyer that served as the task force's command vessel, it was augmented by several other large and medium scale warships including two Lucrehulk-class Battleships, eight heavy cruisers, eight Nebulon-B escort frigates and six CR90 "Rebel Blockade Runners". A skirmish line made up of twelve DP-20 class gunships, better known by the simpler Corellian Gunship moniker, guarded the larger ships and dozens of X and Y-Wing fighters patrolled the outer perimeter.

The Venator-class ship carried the name of _Dominion_ and it was of the _Coruscant _subclass meaning it had a heavy turbolaser cannon installed in the ventral hangar bay intended to protect the ship whenever it opened its long, ventral doors to the troop compliment bays. Commanding Task Force Kwymar was a Duros female named Moira Lassif. A ranking Rear Admiral within the Rebel Alliance fleet, she was relatively young for the rank she had attained. A tactical officer by profession, Moira had been elevated to her current status just a few weeks prior when the former group commander had been killed during an unexpected confrontation with the Empire near Serenno. Though there were other officers on the _Dominion_ that had more seniority than she did, her former commander's final wish clearly indicated that Moira was to be his replacement. It was a demand that Admiral Ackbar had reluctantly acquiesced to.

Moira was uncomfortable in her new position, despite Ackbar's lukewarm assurance that she could handle the task. The loyalty of her crew wasn't an issue with her. She'd always gotten on well with them and they, in turn, respected her advice and abilities. But being in full command of a partial fleet was something different. Moira had begun to sense that many of her crewmates, men and women she had served with for years, were starting to distance themselves from her as a sign of respect to her new position. It wasn't exactly the way she wanted to start her tenure as their newly appointed commander.

Add the fact that the director of Rebel Intelligence, General Airen Cracken, was using her command vessel as a temporary headquarters of his own and Moira felt her crewmates were shying away from her even more. But she tried not to let it get her down. She had a duty to perform and she was determined to prove to Admiral Ackbar that he had been right in elevating her to the position she held.

And there was always her one true friend, Captain Jaq Onasi. He was First Officer of Task Force Kwymar and the actual commander of the _Dominion_. An aging human male and a career naval man, he had served with Task Force Kwymar since it was first formed three months ago as the Kwymar Suppressions were getting underway. He had extensive experience commanding warships going back as far as the Clone Wars. Years ago Jaq had taken Admiral Lassif her under his wing and most of what she knew now regarding command and tactics now was because of his tutelage and instruction. He had been a great friend to her over the years and the two of them had whittled away many late hours over a couple of ales and a friendly game of sabacc.

Moira shook her head to clear it as she found herself getting lost in daydreams. The meeting she was sitting in on had droned on for over an hour and she could tell that most of the others sitting in on it were getting uncomfortable as well. Even so, she casually looked out one of the transparisteel windows of the bridge conference room and half-longed to be in one of the fighters patrolling the fleet group.

The strange group of people that looked to be just as bored by the meeting as she was were a curiosity to her. General Cracken had hastily introduced them to her and Captain Onasi when they'd come aboard the _Dominion_ a few hours ago as a highly classified Rebel special operations and intelligence team. He'd even sworn her to secrecy not reveal their identities, nor the name of their team. What was the name he'd used? Oh yeah, Force Revanchist. Force Revanchist? What kind of a name was that?

As the meeting wore on, Moira looked back over the curious members of this Force Revanchist and quietly studied them. They were a bizarre looking bunch… four human males including two Mandalorians and one kid, a curious looking red-skinned near human female, an elderly Weequay male, a bizarre looking astromech droid and an intense looking protocol droid. Moira also remembered seeing a red-skinned Twi'lek woman with the group when they'd first arrived, but she was curiously absent from this meeting.

Aside from this bizarre looking bunch, General Cracken himself was present in the room along with the holographic projections of six other top Rebel leaders. Presiding over the meeting was none other the Rebel Alliance leader herself, Mon Mothma. No doubt she was transmitting from an undisclosed location as her section of the fleet was nowhere near the Atrivis Sector. At least that's what she'd last heard. Moira was impressed. This bunch had to be good if they had the ear of Mon Mothma. Moira herself rarely got past Admiral Ackbar when it came to top level meetings.

Admiral Ackbar was present too via the secure holonet as were General Jan Dodonna and Lieutenant General Vanden Willard. Dodonna was still riding the waves of fame that had been reverberating throughout the Alliance as the overall commander of the successful mission that had destroyed the Death Star battle station over Yavin IV. Despite this, he was already well into the advanced stages of evacuating the Yavin Base. Even though the Empire's war machine had been thrown into disarray since the Battle of Yavin, it would not take them much longer to recover and once they did, the Alliance feared Imperial reprisal would be severe. The just now starting to wind down Kwymar Suppressions were already proof of this, but that was just a sidebar compared to what they would unleash in the Gordian Reach Sector if the Alliance continued to linger in the area.

General Carlist Rieekan and Leia Organa rounded out the Rebel leaders present through the holonet transmissions. Organa was speaking now and imploring the other leaders to wait until a new, suitable location for the Rebel Alliance's headquarters had been located before completing the final evacuation of the base on Yavin. Dodonna was arguing with her that they may not have time to wait and they should start the final withdrawal immediately.

Dahlgen rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, an act that did not go unnoticed by several others. Even though most of the others agreed with Dodonna and that evacuation should begin as soon as possible, Leia was continuing to niggle her point about not rushing away from one base without another to go to. Dahlgen's eye roll got her attention. "Did I say something to offend you Mr. Luzard?"

"It's Dahlgen. And me personally, no. But your lack of ability for strategic thinking and tactical planning is an insult to anyone who does possess it."

Dawna, sitting to Dahlgen's right, elbowed him in the ribs which he ignored. Under his helmet, Dannix snickered barely containing his laughter.

Leia appeared flustered. "Are you suggesting that I am incompetent?"

"When it comes to tactical planning, I'm not suggesting it. I'm outright accusing you of it," Dahlgen retaliated. "Look, we all know that the Empire has been momentarily knocked off their feet as a result of the Death Star's destruction. But therein lies the key word… momentarily. Sooner or later, they'll be back on their feet. If you don't believe that, tune in to your local Newsnet and have a look at what's been happening in the Kwymar Sector, and still is happening to some degree. While I can appreciate some people's desire to not just pick up and go without someplace to land, the fact remains that if you have nowhere to go moving around is the next best thing. You ought to know this because it's how the Alliance's task forces survive."

Mon Mothma decided to intervene before a full scale shouting match erupted. "All right, for the moment I think we should consider this issue closed," she said. Force Revanchist didn't need to be privy to this matter anyway. "We'll revisit it again tomorrow at oh nine-thirty. For now, may I suggest we turn our attention to the report filed by Force Revanchist?"

Leia was not quite ready to dismiss the issue however. "And suppose while moving around, they stumble on an Imperial task force?"

"Leia…" Mon Mothma made slashing motion across her throat. Clearly she did not want the issue discussed in front of Force Revanchist any further.

Leia threw her hands up in submission. "Sorry. Force Revanchist's report."

Mon Mothma briefly consulted her notes. "We've read your report on the meeting and we've analyzed the recorded conversation between Moffs Hazloc and Ulcom. But I have to say that we're somewhat disappointed with the results. Apart from several references to the Lancer class frigate and this Project Epsilon, the conversation yields very little in the way of tangible information."

Dahlgen glanced at his friends and they all wore the same expression. It was not unexpected that the Alliance would've hoped there would be more in the transcripts and reports. Yet there wasn't and they all knew that supposition would do very little to convince the Alliance High Command of their beliefs. Even so, Dahlgen was prepared to argue his team's point. "Have you read over my personal addendum to the report?"

"We have," Ackbar stated.

The blunt answer did little to bolster Dahlgen's confidence that he would succeed in convincing them of what he and his friends believed. "Then I hope you all can see why this Project Epsilon that is under development must be another super weapon of some kind."

"On the contrary Dahlgen, we see nothing of the sort," Ackbar replied. "There is absolutely nothing in your report that conclusively indicates that Project Epsilon is a super weapon."

_And there's the key word… conclusively._ "Excuse me, but were you all observing the same conversation that we were?" Dahlgen asked with a hint of frustration.

"What else would we have been viewing," Ackbar demanded.

_Good question. I wish I knew, but I truly wonder if it was our report._ "Then may I point out that during the conversation, Moff Hazloc said and I quote… 'Last time the device was used, it required exorbitant amounts of power to generate the desired result. To be precise it required the power of four heavy cruisers.'"

Leia spoke again. "What of it?"

_Stubborn as a ronto and denser than a rancor's hide._ "Well clearly this indicates that the Empire is attempting to redesign something that has already been designed, and used, in the past."

Now it was General Dodonna's turn to comment. "That may be but that's still no indication that whatever they are building is a new super weapon."

Dannix couldn't stay silent any longer. "Oh really General? You're an expert on fleets and sieges. When was the last time you saw a conventional weapon that required the power of four battle cruisers to bring it online?"

Dahlgen also eyed Dodonna with some curiosity and wasn't surprised when Dodonna didn't have an answer readily available. "Well, General?"

Dodonna conceded the point. "Other than the Death Star, I haven't seen anything of the sort."

_I didn't think you had General._ Dahlgen addressed the Alliance leaders once again. "The point is my team and I are convinced that this Project Epsilon referred to in the conversation is a super weapon of some kind…"

Leia cut him off. "And what would the nature of that super weapon be?"

Dahlgen sensed he was being led somewhere, but there was nothing he could do stop it. To say that Dahlgen Luzard disliked Leia Organa would be a gross understatement. He viewed her as little more than a spoiled brat who had been given a ton of candy but who still had her hand out and was saying, "Please mommy, I'd like some more." Add to that, her holier-than-thou attitude and Dahlgen couldn't imagine anyone more unpleasant to be around short of Emperor Palpatine and his creature, Darth Vader. "You know that I don't know that. I know as much about Project Epsilon as you do."

Carlist Rieekan, who up until then had been silent, elected to pose a question. "Is it possible that whatever this Project Epsilon is could be a part of another, larger project?"

Dahlgen had to admit he hadn't considered that possibility. "Yes, I suppose it could be."

Princess Leia decided to press Rieekan's point forward. "And the massive output referred to in Project Epsilon could in fact be referring to the sub light drive system or hyperdrive system of a new Imperial vessel, could it not?"

Dahlgen's eyebrows furrowed and he looked briefly around at his team who all wore the same confused expression as he did. _New Imperial vessel? What in the hell are you talking about?_ "Perhaps, but it doesn't explain Moff Hazloc's comment about such a device being used in the past."

Princess Leia trumpeted her final question. "So you really have no idea or proof that Project Epsilon is in fact, a super weapon, do you?"

The condescending tone in Leia's voice was so apparent, even HK could detect it. It was the question that Dahlgen knew they would ask, and the only one he did not have an answer for. "No, I do not."

Leia sat back with a smile of triumph and addressed her fellow Alliance leaders. "Well then, in light of Dahlgen's admission, I see no reason why we should spend any more of our limited resources in this venture for the time being."

It was what Dahlgen expected but he tried one last gambit to convince them of his beliefs. "Then may I call your attention to the supplemental report filed by my associate, Katya Saren, regarding the murder of Moff Ulcom?"

General Vanden Willard finally spoke up. "What about it?"

Dawna could sense that Dahlgen was becoming increasingly agitated at the Alliance leaders' blatant refusal to even entertain the notion that Project Epsilon was anything more than an annoyance. _Please Dahlgen, don't let their ignorance rule your actions. Be at peace Dahlgen._

_What?_

Dawna looked at him with wide eyes as she realized he'd heard her comment. Curious by this new development, she tried another thought wondering if he'd hear it too. _Dahlgen, please be at peace. We all knew this was the stance they would probably take._

_I know damn it and I'm trying Dawna. I'm really trying. But that Leia burns me up. She's denser than durasteel and her "I'm above everyone" attitude is worse than Palpatine's. It seems to me that the entire Alliance High Command is getting complacent in the wake of their victory at Yavin._

He had heard her! As clear as could be! And he'd responded! It was as if they were actually talking to one another! But then why was she surprised? Dahlgen had told her that they would be able to carry on telepathic conversations like this with a greater degree of clarity and focus than what was considered normal even for Jedi. Reading thoughts and feelings in the minds of others was nothing new for Jedi, even reading the thoughts and feelings of another Jedi. But carrying on a telepathic conversation with such precision… that was something totally different. It wasn't just based on visions, feelings and educated guesses. It was a complete conversation. She'd never experienced anything like this before. But then, she guessed he hadn't either._ Do not blame her Dahlgen. She was not there so it is not her fault that she is displaying all the intelligence of a Gamorrean Battle Rager at the present time._ Her comment forced Dahlgen to contain his laughter. Sensing his joviality, Dawna projected a deep calmness towards him and she felt his anxiety subside.

This was amazing. Force Bonds were nothing new to the Jedi, but even as recently as the Clone Wars they were discouraged and often misunderstood. Though there had been countless records in the Jedi archives concerning them, to most Jedi they were something unnatural and deceptive; a dangerous conduit leading to the dark side best to be avoided. But this, this didn't seem dark to her, nor did it seem unnatural. Maybe some of her own investigation into the Force Bond that Revan and Bastila had shared would be well worth her time. It could certainly provide some unique insight into this new aspect of her life.

"Excuse me," Dannix bellowed. "Are we interruptin' somethin' over there?"

With some embarrassment, Dahlgen and Dawna both realized that all eyes were on them. She quickly turned away from him, her face turning a deeper shade of red than it normally was while he stumbled over his words. "Uh… no… uh nothing at all." Dahlgen then addressed General Willard's question. "Have any of you taken the time to think why an Imperial major would suddenly murder a Moff in the middle of an emergency stairwell during a gun battle?"

Leia offered her theory. "We believe that he was murdered because he was planning on either defecting to the Alliance or sabotaging Project Epsilon. The major who murdered him is probably an undercover ISB agent who got wind of this and disposed of the Moff before he could do any damage."

Dahlgen couldn't resist turning the tables on Leia. "You are of course, aware that Moff Ulcom is a member of Yularen family, are you not?"

"Of course, why wouldn't…"

Dahlgen cut Leia off. "And how many members of the Yularen family have defected from the Empire since it came into being?"

"None that I know of," Leia admitted.

"None period. End of statement." With a slight smirk on his face, Dahlgen fired his salvo. "So in other words, you really have no idea or proof that Ulcom was planning to defect, do you?" _Take that you sanctimonious schutta._

His statement turned the surprised heads of everyone in the room including General Cracken. _Well played Dahlgen,_ Dawna complimented.

_Thank you._

"There's a difference between me not having any proof and you not having any proof," Leia reminded him.

"And what's that?" Dahlgen inquired.

"I'm a member of Alliance High Command. You're not."

_I had to ask. I had to ask!_

Mon Mothma finally intervened again. "Okay, I think we've heard enough from both sides on this issue. While I may personally agree with Dahlgen's argument concerning the murder of Moff Ulcom, the fact remains that no solid proof yet exists that this Project Epsilon is in fact a new super weapon being developed by the Empire. Furthermore, it seems more likely that Project Epsilon is likely an off shoot of an existing project. Given that, I cannot authorize the expenditure of additional resources to the investigation of Project Epsilon. Not without further intelligence."

_Which you will never have, because you just said that you will not spend further resources gathering it._ Dahlgen leaned back in his chair and snorted in frustration.

"I think with that we will now adjourn this meeting," Mon Mothma announced. She turned to General Cracken. "General, please see to it that our guests' ship is completely restocked and personal weapons as well as other supplies given to them if they are needed."

General Cracken nodded. "As you order ma'am."

_The Dominion – Counter Intelligence Suite_

Katya Saren looked away from the computer screen for a moment and rubbed her eyes. She'd been staring at the screen for what seemed like an eternity now, sifting through all the personnel files and holo pictures she could get her hands on. It was a long shot she was pursuing, but she had learned from Dahlgen long ago that every now and again a long shot paid off. And she was hoping that now would be one of those admittedly rare times.

The face of that Imperial major that had murdered Moff Ulcom and then fired at her was a face she would never forget. And upon rendezvousing with the Rebel task force, Katya had immediately set about her task of identifying the man. She'd even had to excuse herself from the meeting with the other Alliance leaders to do so. That had surprised Dahlgen and Katya had no doubt he'd be asking her a lot of relatively unpleasant questions regarding her sudden action later on. But if she had something to show him, maybe he wouldn't chew her out quite so much.

However, more than two hours into her quest, her search had yielded absolutely nothing. It was beginning to frustrate her. Rebel Intelligence was limited in what it could offer, but even Katya thought they'd have more information than this. No wonder intelligence officers were some of the most schizophrenic people in the galaxy. With the endless sea of double-talk, misinformation and outright lies they had to sort through on a daily basis, it was a wonder they were able to discern any truth at all from all the piles upon piles of nonsense.

One of General Cracken's aides, a human lieutenant quickly stepped towards her when he saw her frustration. He was just a kid really, maybe in his early twenties. Young and impressionable. Though initially suspicious of her, when General Cracken had verified what Katya was doing, the young man had practically stumbled all over himself and everything else in the library just to accommodate and be close to her. This had not gone unnoticed by two of his buddies working in the intelligence center either.

Katya couldn't help but laugh as she sensed his raging hormones and his careful planning of the perfect date with her that, sadly for him, would never take place. In general, Katya Saren had zero interest in romance and even if she did, there was really no one she was interested in romance with at this time. Her experiences with Twi'lek males over the years had all but convinced her that she was never going to become romantically involved with one of her own kind. In general she found them boorish and far too interested in gambling, alcohol and the latest get-rich-quick scheme they had dreamed up or heard of. No, for her the only type of male she would even think of having a romance with was a human male. And right now that was about as likely to happen as Darth Vader was to defect to the Alliance and bring half the Imperial fleet with him. In time, who knew? But for now she was far more interested in continuing her Force studies under Dahlgen and helping him do whatever he could to stick it to the Empire.

The male lieutenant appeared beside her, desperately trying not to stare down at Katya's ample cleavage. He'd never seen a Lethan Twi'lek before and was only aware of their supposed beauty through the stories he'd heard from various spacers in the cantinas. Those half-drunk buffoons had been right. "Nothing, ma'am?" He spoke hoarsely.

"No," Katya admitted as she continued to massage her forehead. "Damn. I knew this was a shot in the dark, but I was hoping…" She banged her fist on the console. "Damn it, I want to know who he is!"

"Who what is?" the lieutenant spoke, eager to help Katya however he could.

"That Imperial major who murdered Moff Ulcom. I want to know who he is and why he murdered the Moff. I have no doubt his motive for doing so is somehow tied with this Project Epsilon that we've discovered. But what?"

The lieutenant leaned forward and tapped at the console, an excuse to get closer to her. "Well, maybe we need to redefine your search parameters."

"I've redefined them six times already and I'm still nowhere," Katya grumbled. A sharp inhalation of breath and Katya got the distinct impression that the lieutenant had somehow managed to put some cologne on recently. More like marinated in it actually. What, did he have a secret stash of the stuff in his desk? Katya turned slightly away from him and unsuccessfully tried to stifle a cough.

The lieutenant didn't notice as he was half concentrating on his work, half concentrating on Katya. "What else can you tell me about this Imperial major?" he asked politely.

Katya snorted. "There's not much else to tell. We have his approximate age, height, hair color and build. I'm not sure what else I can give you."

"Anything is better than nothing," the lieutenant encouraged. "Maybe he had a scar or something?"

Katya shook her head. "I don't know. Try it. Let's see what happens."

He made a few more keystrokes and shook his head in dismay. "Damn terminal. I'm sorry ma'am. I was just recently posted here and I'm still trying to get used to the way these terminals operate. It's slightly different that my last posting."

Something that the lieutenant said triggered a bell in Katya's mind and she gripped the young man by the shoulder. "That's it!" Katya had made a general search of Moff Ulcom's staff that had been associated with him for several years or more. It didn't dawn on her until just now that maybe the major she was looking for was a recent addition to Ulcom's staff. "Get me a list of everyone who has been transferred to Moff Ulcom's staff within the past, uh… eighteen months."

The lieutenant made a few more keystrokes and a new list of dossiers appeared in front of her. Katya studied it for a minute and pointed to one about half way down the list. "This one here."

The selected dossier that had caught her attention was brought up and Katya could hardly believe how her fortunes had turned. There he was. She would never forget the cold, flinty-eyed stare of that major as he so casually murdered the Moff. Now that same look gazed back at her on the official photograph accompanying the file that the Rebel Alliance had on him.

Katya excitedly turned to the male lieutenant. "Get me that datapad!" In his haste to impress her, the young man immediately handed it to her. As she plugged it into the terminal and started downloading the contents, Katya allowed herself a smile of satisfaction. She was still expecting to get chewed out by Dahlgen for missing the meeting, but once she showed him this she hoped he would understand.

_Elsewhere on the Dominion _

"I'm not saying you're wrong Dahlgen. But what if you are? What if Project Epsilon is in fact, just a part of some other large project?" General Cracken put the question to Dahlgen directly.

After the meeting with the Alliance High Command, the members of Force Revanchist had all split up to concentrate on other duties. Dannix and Cronus had gone to oversee the restocking of the _Silver Horizon_, Gee Tee and HK were conducting a full systems check of the ship in preparation for departure. Dijas had gone off to get more ammo packs for his sniper rifle and Katya was still nowhere to be found.

Dahlgen and Dawna had accompanied General Cracken back to his private office for a drink and a one-on-one meeting. So far that meeting had done little except provide a lot of guesses as to the true nature of Project Epsilon and a mild state of inebriation in all of them. "I know that's what everyone else around here thinks General," Dahlgen half snorted. "But I think you're wrong. All of you. My gut and the Force are both telling me that this Project Epsilon, whatever it is, is something else entirely. Project Epsilon is a super weapon; I am absolutely certain of this."

"You're going to need a lot more than a Force based hunch if you're going to convince the rest of High Command that you're right," Cracken pointed out. "They want solid, tangible proof, not Force based theories and conjecture."

"I know that," Dahlgen barked, sipping his whiskey.

_Dahlgen… peace_, Dawna spoke telepathically.

"I'd like to kick a piece of the High Command's ass," Dahlgen replied, rolling his eyes.

"What was that," Cracken asked, clearly confused.

Dahlgen realized he'd made the last statement aloud instead of merely communicating it to Dawna alone like he'd wanted to. "Uh, nothing. Dawna and I were just um… discussing some options."

Behind him Dawna frowned.

Dahlgen returned his attention to General Cracken. "You sound as if you've already made up your mind as well General. You sound just as convinced as the others that this Project Epsilon could only be a small piece of something larger."

Cracken exhaled heavily. "In truth, I'm still on the fence on that one. I know you guys well enough that I trust your instincts and if you say that Project Epsilon is a super weapon, then I am inclined to give you the benefit of some doubt. Yet the rest of Alliance High Command remains unconvinced and they would very much like me to fall in line with the rest of them. And believe me they have good, legitimate reasons for thinking the way they do."

Dahlgen took another sip of his whiskey, leaned forward in his seat and recalled an earlier part of the meeting with High Command where they had mentioned something about a new Imperial vessel. Several times actually. "You know something?"

Cracken slowly nodded. "I do."

An awkward silence followed, interrupted by Dahlgen shrugging at the aged General and asking "Well?"

"Well what?" Cracken replied. "That information is classified Dahlgen. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't share it with you." 

"Dammit General, don't give me all that 'need-to-know' double talk," Dahlgen growled. "You say you want tangible proof that Project Epsilon is a super weapon. So do I. Well blast it General, if my friends and I are to accomplish that, then I need to know just what it is we are competing against. Because if all I manage to uncover is a brand new construction method for power converters, I'm liable to view that with a lot less urgency than you might view it."

"I said no Dahlgen. I'm sorry," Cracken apologized. "I realize that it may be beneficial to your investigation but I can't share any other information with you. The Alliance has put such a tight security lid on this that only the most senior army and navy officers are aware of it. And it is a need-to-know basis. According to Mon Mothma, Leia Organa and Admiral Ackbar, your team doesn't need to know anything."

As Cracken spoke, he silently pulled a datapad from beneath his robe placed it on his desk. He then made a series of hand gestures that, although bizarre in appearance, Dahlgen nevertheless understood the meaning. Whatever was on the datapad was not to be viewed while they were still within the confines of the task force. Once they were underway to their next destination however, they were free to view it as they pleased.

Dahlgen nodded. "Need to know, huh?" he spoke as he quickly pocketed the device. "Need to know. Alliance High Command needs to figure out who its friends are in real hurry before they are dealt a crushing defeat that forever destroys their dreams of restoring the Republic. I have to tell you General… all this cloak and dagger stuff really gets on my nerves. It sometimes is more of a danger than an asset to those it's supposed to help and protect."

"And yet you and your team are a part of all that 'cloak and dagger stuff' wouldn't you say?" Cracken couldn't resist saying with a semi-smile.

Dahlgen merely offered the old Alliance General his own smirk of sarcasm. "Ironic, isn't it?"

_The Kwymar Sector… Unknown Location_

Major Verrill Derwit sat at his desk, rubbing his forehead in near exhaustion as the names of a plethora of data files flashed on his work terminal. Ever since arriving in this location, he had had almost thoroughly enmeshed himself in trying to identify the Rebel troublemakers that had nearly killed him and his comrades on Zeltros. Moff Hazloc had ordered him to do as much but it was a job that Derwit had accepted with zeal. After that debacle, Moff Hazloc had ordered that all of the late Moff Ulcom's personnel assigned to Project Epsilon be transferred to the Kwymar Sector and consolidated in one location.

Major Derwit had accepted the transfer gracefully, perhaps even gladly. But his zeal in his current assignment was soon replaced by a crushing reality. During the battle he hadn't really gotten a good look at any of the Rebels. The only two that he could be sure of were the human man and that strange looking red-skinned near-human female that had attempted to take them prisoner. But even there, the battle zone had been so full of choking smoke and haze, Derwit hadn't been surprised when his vague recollection of the pair had turned up literally tens of thousands of potential candidates.

He'd spent nearly every waking moment since arriving at his new post sifting through the myriad of files, successfully scanning over only a little over a thousand of them. However, there were still more than what, a hundred and sixty-five thousand, a hundred and seventy-five thousand, or perhaps even more files left to sift through. And what did he have to show for his efforts? A sore butt and eyes that were threatening to pop out of his head if he didn't give them some rest. If he didn't get some better parameters to work with, he'd spend the rest of his career trying to identify those two. Finally relenting to the fatigue that wracked him, Derwit put his terminal in standby mode and banged his fist on the table in frustration.

All the files he'd looked at up to now had been of known or suspected human male Rebels within four sectors of Zeltros. This was, of course, assuming that the Rebels he was searching for actually operated in that area. For all Derwit knew, the group could've been based in some far-flung sector of the Outer-Rim like he was. Never mind the rest of his career. Without help it would take him the rest of his life to find them in that case!

Derwit considered the red skinned near human woman for a moment. She was very likely dead now, but there was an outside chance she'd survived the grenade blast. And he hadn't looked over a single one of the near human female files he'd collected. Perhaps he'd have better luck sifting through those. But then again, maybe not. There were just over sixty-thousand of those files to look over. Still red-skinned near humans couldn't be that common in the galaxy. Maybe it would relatively easier to identify her just by that parameter alone. It was worth a shot. He took his terminal out of standby and made some keystrokes on it, ordering the search narrowed to all females with red skin or reddish tinted skin. That resulted in a little over a hundred files remaining in the search. With high hopes, he briefly looking at the pictures that accompanied each remaining dossier. Unfortunately, Derwit's hopes were soon dashed when none of them matched the look of the woman from his memory.

Damn. Another dead end. Once again he banged his fist on the desk and considered his options. One things was certain, now he'd have to start all over from the very beginning. Who was that woman? Sixty thousand files available and not one of them matched her description? Why? What was so special about her? She had to be unique! So why was it so difficult to identify her?

But then was she as unique as he really thought? Derwit recalled that just after he'd shot Moff Ulcom, he'd been accosted in the stairwell by an elderly Weequay and young Twi'lek woman. And that Twi'lek woman was the red-skinned Lethan sub-species. Perhaps the near-human woman was a Human / Twi'lek hybrid? As absurd as it sounded, humans and Twi'leks were capable of interbreeding and there were many examples of it around the galaxy. Derwit cursed silently to himself as he hadn't considered the possibility until just now.

Turning once more to his terminal, Derwit entered new parameters… human – Twi'lek hybrids, with red skin. _Let's see what this turns up._ Again, any hope for a quick identification was dashed when the computer came back with a staggering one hundred twenty-seven thousand possible matches. He snorted in frustration.

Derwit did some more thinking about the near-human woman and her possible connection to the human man. As a near human-species… whatever species that was… it couldn't have been uncommon for them to associate and even consort with humans. But then, what if her species itself wasn't that common? What if her species was only a few thousand to a few hundred thousand strong? It would therefore, be reasonable to assume that most of that species did not venture far from their home world, wherever that happened to be. Derwit then began to realize that he may be trying to identify a woman whose species was unknown and home world had not been catalogued. But if that was true, why had this woman taken up the way of the Jedi? She had to know something about the galaxy at large which meant there had to be something about her species somewhere.

An idea he hadn't considered entered Derwit's mind and he snapped his fingers. Maybe the human man and the red skinned near human woman were husband and wife. Ah but then again, maybe not. If they were true Jedi after all, marriage, emotional attachments and that sort of thing were generally frowned upon by the Jedi Order. But then, the Jedi Order no longer existed. So it wasn't too daft of an idea for him not to at least look into it a bit. He sat up and considered returning to his search again, but there was just no way his eyes were going to let him do it. With a grunt of disappointment, he put his terminal back in standby and resigned himself to conducting a newly refined search after he'd had some rest.

He shoved himself away from the desk and made his way over to his bunk. Lying face up, he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to claim him. As he did, Derwit could see the battle before him unfolding again. But there was something different about it. The red skinned woman hadn't been wounded by his grenade after all. And now… now the human man was moving towards him and raising his violet double bladed lightsaber above his head for the final strike. He looked different that Derwit remembered him. He had red skin and yellow eyes too, just like the woman. Had he been wrong? Was the male a near human of the same type too? Derwit desperately fired his blaster at the man, trying to somehow stop the inevitable. But the violet blades came down anyway. Derwit raised his hands in a feeble gesture to block the blade and screamed out in terror as white hot pain enveloped his entire body.

Derwit sat up with a sudden start, his clothes bathed in sweat. He darted his eyes about in several directions and exhaled with relief when he found he was in his own quarters. Looking at the bedside timepiece, he was surprised to see that nearly three and a half hours had passed since he laid down. The door chime to his quarters pinged several irritating times prompting Derwit to guess that whoever was ringing it had been there for some time. He fumbled with the door controls on the night table and finally got it to slide open. "What? What do you want?"

Lieutenant Sheila Alston entered the room. "Finally. I thought I was going to have to call a security detail to check on you."

"I'm sorry," Derwit apologized. "I was so tired that I decided to take a nap. I guess I just didn't hear the door chime."

Lieutenant Alston assessed the major's appearance with a considerable amount of disfavor. He'd apparently slept in his uniform and now it looked terrible. And the news she had wasn't going to sit well with him either.

"What is it Lieutenant?" Derwit asked her. "You obviously didn't ring my door several times just for a social call."

Lieutenant Alston cleared her throat. "Sir, we just got word that the emissary's ship has arrived in orbit. His shuttle will be arriving here in just twelve minutes."

Derwit's eyes widened and he checked his bedside timepiece again. Damn. He wasn't going to have enough time to shower. "The emissary wasn't supposed to be here until three," he complained. Hoisting himself from his bunk, Derwit headed for his closet.

"They left Coruscant early sir," Alston replied. "No explanation."

Derwit pulled another clean, freshly pressed uniform from the closet and laid it down on the bed. Then, not thinking, he proceeded to peel himself out of the one he was wearing. Lieutenant Alston gasped in surprise. Derwit looked at her and realized his mistake. He'd forgotten to dismiss her. Oh well, nothing he could about that now. He stripped all the way down to his shorts and headed for the washroom. "Don't worry about it Lieutenant. I'm sure I don't have anything you haven't seen before."

Actually, even though Lieutenant Alston was considered to be very desirable by human standards, she had never had a lover in her young life. And as she curiously eyed Derwit while he soaped his face, young Sheila couldn't help but be awed by the major's powerful, cut physique even if he was old enough to be her father. Her eyes traced over the muscles of his back and his broad arms and she caught herself wondering what it would be like to be held by those arms. Coming back to reality, Alston warned herself that now was not the time to get wrapped up in ridiculous childhood fantasies.

"Lieutenant?"

Alston realized Derwit had asked her question, but she'd been so wrapped up in her teenaged fantasies that she'd missed it. Damn. "I'm sorry major. I didn't hear you."

Derwit chuckled to himself as he suspected why she hadn't heard him. "I asked you if we knew who this emissary was?"

Alston appeared in the doorway. "No idea sir. I asked Moff Hazloc and he assured me that he has no idea either."

Derwit rinsed his face. "Which means one of two things. One, he's lying about it." He shut off the water and toweled himself off. "Or two, he is so far down the pecking order in the Imperial Court that the emissary we're being sent is nothing more than a glorified errand boy." Derwit tossed the towel aside and moved back into the common area where he began dressing himself. "Care to bet which one it is Lieutenant?"

"There is one other possibility major," Alston declared.

"Oh?" Derwit asked as he started to button his coat. "What's that?"

"Perhaps Lord Vader is being sent to us. Or even the Emperor himself could be coming."

Derwit stopped and looked at Lieutenant Alston as a wave of horror washed over him. He hadn't thought of that. He'd never actually met the Emperor face to face and he'd only encountered Vader briefly a few years ago. That encounter had taught Derwit two things. One, give the Force its proper respect and two, give Darth Vader a wide berth. He considered Lieutenant Alston's theory and slowly shook his head. "No, I sincerely doubt the Emperor is coming personally. If he was, this whole facility would be on high alert and security would be quadruple what it is now. Not to mention all the pomp and circumstance that would go with it."

Derwit finished buttoning his coat and took a moment to primp himself in the mirror. "Vader is more plausible, but still somewhat unlikely too. After the fiasco at Yavin, the Emperor will have Vader going after the Rebellion with all the stops removed. That will be his primary mission until the Rebellion is crushed." He took a deep breath and faced Lieutenant Alston. "Someone like Vader though… someone with knowledge of the Force and high enough in the Imperial court to take over the project… that is a very real possibility."

"You think Moff Hazloc will go for that," Alston asked.

Derwit adopted a stern expression. "If Moff Hazloc wants to stay alive and healthy, he won't have a choice." He took a few seconds to give himself a final assessment. "All right. Let's not keep everyone waiting."

Major Derwit and Lieutenant Alston arrived in the main hangar just as the emissary's shuttle turned onto final approach. Moff Gerd Hazloc was waiting for them along with a ceremonial honor guard detail of four stormtroopers. Approximately a hundred more stormtroopers formed two single file lines flanking the Moff and reached all the way back to the blast doors leading further into the facility.

Moff Hazloc looked disdainfully at the pair as they rushed up to their posts behind him. "Where the hell have you two been?" he demanded.

"My fault sir," Derwit apologized. "I was resting and Lieutenant Alston had some trouble waking me up."

Alston said nothing, but kept her eyes fixed on the floor just behind the Moff's shoes.

The major's answer seemed to placate the irritated Moff for the moment. "Well at least you got here before the emissary landed or I'd see both of your butts in the brig. It wouldn't do for me to be standing here greeting an important guest without my two most senior officers here to back me up."

_Translation: you want someone nearby who is lower in rank than you but high enough in rank to blame for anything in case the emissary happens to be in lousy mood when he arrives_, Derwit thought. _That way you can deflect all of his rage away from you._

The shuttle floated gracefully into the hangar and Moff Hazloc turned once more to his officers. "Now remember, let me do the talking."

_And just what are you going to talk about_, Derwit wondered. _The weather on this, life-forsaken rock? As if any truly existed._

The shuttle touched down and came to stop on the landing pad. Inside, the pilot shut down the sub light engine and made a post flight check of the controls before lowering the boarding ramp. Even from his post some distance away, Derwit could see the emissary standing at the top of the ramp. He wore a jet black body suit and a dark cape with a hood that covered his head along with a utility belt that had several pouches around his waist. Derwit gulped nervously when he clearly saw the hilt of the lightsaber hanging at his left hip.

_Great_, Derwit mused. _I was right. This could be trouble._ The last thing they needed in Derwit's mind was a Dark Side Force user coming and stirring up trouble. He frowned and half snorted in disgust as he watched the emissary start down the ramp. It seemed to him that no matter where Force users went, trouble was not far behind. Whose side they were on made no difference. As soon as the emissary's feet stepped off the ramp, the stormtroopers flanking them came to a crisp position of attention and held their weapons at port arms.

Moff Hazloc bowed and extended the official greeting, "My Lord… welcome to Azkul Base."

Derwit and Alston both rolled their eyes skyward as the emissary approached them. Moff Hazloc had recited an Imperial canned phrase rather than actually pay attention to the emissary as Derwit and Alston had done. This was all too abruptly revealed to the thoughtless Moff when the emissary pulled the hood of his robe back and revealed that he was… in fact… a she. The cold stare from her ice blue eyes told all three of them that if they had intended to impress her upon her arrival, they were off to a very bad start.

Moff Hazloc swallowed hard and bowed once more. "Forgive me… milady." After a brief but awkward silence, Hazloc performed the other introductions. "May I introduce to you my adjutant, Lieutenant Sheila Alston…"

"Milady," Lieutenant Alston bowed to which the emissary returned a curt nod.

"… and Major Verrill Derwit," Hazloc concluded.

"Milady." Major Derwit also bowed to which the same curt nod was returned.

"Uh, Major Derwit was the adjutant of the late Moff Ulcom," Moff Hazloc explained. "As you may be aware, Moff Ulcom was killed by Rebels during our recent expedition to Zeltros. In light of those events, I took the liberty of reassigning Major Derwit to my own staff."

"Yes, I want to discuss that little incident with you," the emissary spoke coldly as she shoved her way past the group.

Major Derwit took a moment to look the emissary over. Apart from the ice blue eyes, she was tall and statuesque with an aquiline nose. She had full, long dark brown hair and pale, yet flawless skin. She was very well endowed and her long legs moved with both grace and purpose. Despite the fact that she was a bit terse, Derwit found her incredibly attractive. And of the three, Derwit was the only one who the emissary could look eye to eye without lowering her gaze.

Moff Hazloc did his best to catch up to the emissary. "We are honored by your presence emissary," he spoke another canned phrase.

The emissary threw up a hand indicating her irritation. "You may dispense with the pleasantries commander," she ordered. "I am here to get you and this project back on schedule."

"Of course milady," Moff Hazloc replied. "Pardon me, but I did not get your name?"

"That is because I did not offer it to you," the emissary spoke in an annoyed tone. She stopped and faced the Moff. "However, since it appears I will be here for quite some time, I suppose names are in order. Very well… I am Lady Katarina, Hand of Palpatine. For the sake of ease, you may address me simply as Katarina. Understood?"

"Perfectly Katarina," Hazloc replied. "But I am most distressed. From your remarks it seems you are insinuating that my staff and I are incompetent."

Katarina couldn't care less what he thought. "Would I be here if you weren't?" she challenged.

"I can assure you that my staff and I are not incompetent," Hazloc spoke with confidence.

"Is that so? Then perhaps you would care to explain how most of your engineering staff managed to get themselves blown up?" Katarina demanded referring to the incident that had prompted the meeting between Hazloc and Ulcom in the first place. When Moff Hazloc remained silent, she laughed. "No. I didn't think you'd be able to answer that one." She spun on her heel and resumed walking.

"Forgive me for asking Lady Katarina," Moff Hazloc inquired. "But I was under the impression that the new engineering staff was going to be arriving with you."

"You are forgiven Moff Hazloc," Katarina answered. She gestured in the general direction of the shuttle she had arrived on. "The staff that you speak of is still in orbit aboard the Star Destroyer _Charybdis_. They are getting their equipment and whatever else they require together and will be joining us within the hour. Now then, about this Rebel group that you encountered on Zeltros… how is it that they managed to infiltrate your meeting with Moff Ulcom?"

"We're not sure milady," Moff Hazloc admitted. "Security was reinforced and we had nearly two platoons of troops roaming the entire building at the time. Furthermore…"

"Allow me to educate you then Moff Hazloc," Katarina cut him off. "Security was unforgivable and whoever decided that a top secret meeting of that magnitude should be conducted on a world such as Zeltros is a certified idiot!"

"Milady," Moff Hazloc spoke quietly. "All the pomp and circumstance surrounding such a meeting almost always draws attention to it no matter where the meeting is being held. We felt that if such a meeting was held in the typical fashion at a typical location, the Alliance would immediately be suspicious and attempt to find out what the meeting was about. Moff Ulcom and I assumed that if the meeting was held quietly, in a place the Alliance would never suspect they would never be the wiser."

"Well then, you were obviously wrong in that assumption Moff Hazloc," Katarina barked. "Because the Rebels found out about it anyway. Now I wonder why that is?"

"I have no idea milady."

The statement didn't surprise Katarina. "Don't you Moff Hazloc? Perhaps then you haven't considered the possibility that someone on your own staff leaked that information to the Rebel Alliance?"

Moff Hazloc stiffened. "I can assure my lady that no member of my staff is a traitor to His Majesty or to his Empire."

"I sincerely hope so Moff Hazloc, for your sake," Katarina replied. "Now then, about the Rebel team; have you identified them?"

"Not as yet milady," Moff Hazloc admitted. "But we are working on it. Major Derwit has given it his top priority and has been working at it relentlessly."

Katarina stopped again and abruptly whirled to face the major. "See that it remains your top priority Major," she warned with a finger shake in his direction. "I want them identified without delay and I will not tolerate excuses." Katarina then turned to Lieutenant Alston. "You will assist him," she ordered with a jerk of her thumb.

"As you order milady," Alston replied.

Moff Hazloc's eyes widened at the issuance of this command. "My lady, I must protest! Lieutenant Alston is my assistant and her work and expertise have been invaluable during the development of this project. As I am now the sole director of Project Epsilon due to Moff Ulcom's unfortunate demise, I will most certainly require her services."

Hazloc never saw the confused expression on Lieutenant Alston's face. Since being assigned to the Moff and this project, she'd been nothing more than the Moff's gofer. So she had no idea what all that talk of her "invaluable expertise" was about.

An evil grin spread across Katarina's face followed by an equally evil laugh. She gently cupped Moff Hazloc's chin and got close to his face. "My dear Moff Hazloc, that is why I am here. She will be of better use elsewhere and as a result you will be of better use to me. That is of course, providing you aren't stupid enough to actually think you are still in charge of this project." Another evil laugh, this one right in the Moff's face. "No, no dear Hazloc. I am in charge here now, not you. So think of yourself as being newly promoted to my assistant. And I'm sure you will do a wonderful job in your new role."

The hand that cupped the Moff's chin suddenly snapped around and caught the Moff by his throat in a death grip. His eyes began to bulge from their sockets as he gasped for breath and desperately groped at Katarina's arm in a feeble attempt to dislodge it from his neck. Katarina's eyes burned with rage and her smile turned into an angry snarl. "Because if you fail me even one time Moff Hazloc!" she warned, her voice rising in pitch with every word. Her lightsaber sprang to life, the incessant hum of the crimson blade like a death knell in Hazloc's ears as she held it mere millimeters from his manhood. "You will wake up one morning to find your vitals floating beside you in a glass of water! Is that understood?!"

"P… perfectly… milady," Hazloc wheezed, his eyes wide in terror. "P… p… please… milady… have… mercy."

Hazloc's feeble plea only further enraged Katarina and she tighten her grip some more. "Mercy? A servant of the dark side doesn't usually show any mercy to anyone or anything! So why should I show you any you pathetic whelp?"

Hazloc's eyes began to flutter and his vision became clouded. "I… can… be… of… use…"

As much as Katarina wanted to throttle Moff Hazloc to death, he did have a point. He was still of some use to her. And as her studies into the dark side and its hidden mysteries had taught her, resources that were still of some potential use were not to be needlessly discarded. Only after their value had been completely exhausted could she dispose of them as she wished. With a snort, she released her grip on Moff Hazloc and shoved him to the floor, extinguishing her weapon and returning it to her belt as he collapsed at the feet of Major Derwit and Lieutenant Alston. Clutching his throat partly in pain, partly in relief, Hazloc sucked in several deep breaths, savoring the sweet taste of the air he had excruciatingly been denied. "I… I am… yours to command milady," Hazloc surrendered.

The evil grin once more appeared on Katarina's face. "That's more like it my dear Moff Hazloc."

Elassa smiled brightly as TK8873 walked into the infirmary. Still recovering from the wound she'd received via her own arrogance on Zeltros, Elassa winced as she shifted position to get a better view of him as he approached. "Hey there big guy," she said. "How did the emissary's arrival go?"

TK8873 sat on the edge of her bed and removed his helmet. He'd been one of the four troopers in the honor guard detail when Katarina had arrived and had overheard much of the initial conversation between her and the rest of the command staff. "About as well as could be expected Elassa. Listen, as long as I'm going to be calling you by your first name when not on duty, you might as well call me by mine. So please, call me Vilnius."

Elassa wrinkled her nose. "Vilnius? Odd name."

"Yes, well, I come from an odd family," Vilnius admitted.

"What kind of family is that?" Elassa asked.

"I'd rather not go into it."

Elassa wanted to pry, but decided that Vilnius was entitled to some measure of privacy. And the look of deep concern on his face prompted her to ask a different question. "What's bothering you?"

"The emissary," Vilnius replied.

"What about her?"

Vilnius turned to face Elassa. "She's extremely vicious. It seems she's taken over leadership of this entire project and "promoted" Moff Hazloc to the position of her lapdog."

"I'm told that most emissaries are like that," Elassa pointed out. "They have to be in order to get projects back on track."

"This one also happens to be a Force user," Vilnius mentioned. "She threatened to cut off Moff Hazloc's manhood if he ever failed her."

"Interesting. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's a force user."

"While holding a lightsaber between Moff Hazloc's legs?" Vilnius inquired. "I'd say the chances of her being exactly that are quite high."

Elassa pursed her lips and admitted Vilnius was probably right. "Okay maybe she is a Force user. Where does that leave us?"

Vilnius sat quietly for a moment in deep thought. What he was planning would be very risky. He would be exposing himself to a level of danger that most would consider unnecessary and many would consider foolish. But he'd had about as much of the Empire as he was willing to put up with. The longer he served them, the more obvious to him it became that his parents had been precisely right about what the Empire was and what it stood for… tyranny, oppression, persecution and murder. He looked around to make sure no one else was nearby. "What do you know specifically about this Project Epsilon?"

Elassa shrugged. "Nothing really."

Vilnius nodded. "That's pretty much what I know about Project Epsilon. I think that it's time that I found out more about what this project is and why we're supposed to risk our necks guarding it."

Elassa sat up in bed and looked at Vilnius with a mildly disapproving stare. "Do you realize what you are saying Vilnius? You are seriously thinking about snooping around in some of the Empire's most highly classified secrets. The complete information regarding this project is so highly classified, you may never uncover anything. And even if you do, what are going to do with it? Not to mention that either way, if you're caught the consequences will be severe. If you're lucky, you'll just get thrown in prison until you're a very old man."

"I'm aware of what could happen to me if I'm ever caught," Vilnius defended himself. "And as for what I do with whatever I find… well, I admittedly haven't thought that far ahead yet. I just want to know what's going on here. I feel I have a right to know." Vilnius rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm even taking a risk by telling you all this Elassa. How do I know you won't run and inform our superiors with what I've just said? How do I know you're not an undercover ISB agent or something?"

"Come on," Elassa retorted. "When was the last time you saw an ISB agent that wasn't human?"

"It's rare, that I'll admit," Vilnius replied. "But it is not unheard of." He stood to leave. "I'm saying all this because I trust you. And I'm offering you a chance to be in on what I am going to do. If you want out, say it now and forget you ever knew me. If you have something to do, do it now before this goes too far. It's up to you and I won't hold it against you either way."

Elassa sat staring blankly at the walls as she thought long and hard about what Vilnius was asking her to do. Finally, she looked back at him. "All right," she said quietly. "I'm in. What do you need me to do?"

"Right now, nothing," Vilnius instructed her. "I'll get some ideas together and we'll make our next move when you're out of the infirmary."

"Okay."

Vilnius gently patted Elassa's leg and left the infirmary to return to his duties. He never saw the person lurking in the hallway shadows who eyed him with extreme curiosity.

_The Silver Horizon – Crew Lounge_

_Enroute to the Kwymar Sector_

Dahlgen Luzard held the data pad in his hand and shook it slightly as he talked to Katya. "You're lucky that you brought this to me Katya, otherwise I'd be raking you over the coals right now. You know how I feel about members of this team missing high ranking meetings and debriefings like that even if the meetings are boring and, as in today's case, counter-productive."

"I know Dahlgen and I'm sorry." As Katya had expected, Dahlgen had not been happy with her skipping the meeting with the Alliance High Command and was in the process of subjecting her to a lecture about exactly that when she showed him the reason for her absence. That had gotten him to calm down and forgive her rather rapidly. "I just couldn't get that face out of my head. And I knew that if I at least didn't try to identify him, it would be gnawing at me."

"Well it was nicely done, Katya," Dahlgen complimented. "Good work."

"So who is the bloke anyway?" Dannix asked, running his hand through his hair.

"A Major Verrill Derwit," Dahlgen announced to all those present in the main hold. "Born on Coruscant forty-six years ago to a respectable, but not particularly influential, family. Spent eight years in the Republic Military Academy, graduating with honors at the age of 26 just a few months before the conclusion of the Clone Wars and received a commission to First Lieutenant.

"He spent a little over a year as the second officer aboard a customs frigate in the Minos Cluster after the war's conclusion. But shortly thereafter, he transferred to Logistics & Administration and was shipped out to Brentaal IV where he sat a desk in the Sel Zonn Station for about a decade. After that, he was transferred to the ship yards at Fondor where he, again, sat at a desk for several years. While both jobs may not have been glamorous, or even remotely rewarding, there is no question about his organizational skills since he has received numerous personal commendations for such.

"Somewhere along the way Moff Stefan Ulcom became familiar with then Captain Derwit and his work because the Moff offered him the chance to be his personal adjutant about fifteen months ago. From this it seems he was guaranteed a promotion to Major if he accepted with a second promotion to Lieutenant Colonel within two years if his performance remained at the level it had been. Nothing in here indicates it wasn't. Aside from all that, according to this, he married his sweetheart while still a cadet at the Academy, then divorced her when he was transferred from Brentaal IV to Fondor. Apparently he abandoned a son who was only nine years old at the time. He married again while stationed at Fondor and divorced his second wife when he accepted Moff Ulcom's offer. Apparently both of his ex-wives flat refused to transfer to wherever his next duty post was going to be and Derwit cared more about his career than either of them."

Dannix snorted loudly as he chomped on a cigar. "What kind of prized bag of poodoo divorces his wife and abandons his child? Never catch any self-respectin' Mando pullin' a stunt like that."

"I think it goes without saying that Major Derwit is not a Mandalorian," Dijas pointed out.

Dawna rolled her eyes. "I think that wherever this Major Derwit is from has absolutely nothing to do with the issues at hand which are one, why did he murder Moff Ulcom and, two why is the Alliance not seriously taking our beliefs that Project Epsilon is something in and of itself?"

"I agree with that assessment." Dahlgen tried to get the conversation back to the point. "And while we still may not know why Major Derwit murdered the Moff, I have a pretty good idea as to why the Alliance is not taking our beliefs seriously." He held up the data pad that General Cracken had given him earlier. "After the general meeting, Dawna and I had a more private one with General Cracken. He gave me this data pad which I have taken a preliminary look at. I think you all will understand the Alliance's reluctance to believe us now." He stepped forward and inserted the data pad into holo-console in one corner. "If you will all observe…"

The console flickered to life and an image of the largest Star Destroyer any of them had ever seen was displayed for them. Like most capital ships of Imperial design, it was shaped like a giant arrowhead but the outer super structure was uncharacteristically smooth for an Imperial designed vessel. This smoothness gave way to a massive island of habitable volume where the command, control, operation and habitat decks were housed. Rising above the dorsal "island" sat the command tower, a tens of meters wide and high trapezoidal construct deliberately positioned in prominent view of any vessel bold enough to dare attack and that offered an unobstructed view of space beyond it.

The underside of the massive warship contained an enormous primary hangar bay which seemed large enough to dock up to a full sized _Imperial_-class Star Destroyer and hundreds, if not thousands, of star fighters. Countless secondary docking bays and staging areas located near the bow of the ship were present for an unknown number of support and assault craft. At the stern, thirteen blood red glowing sublight engines propelled the warship forward… more than any of them had ever seen on a capital sized vessel.

Dannix spoke for them all as they stared in wide-eyed astonishment. "Big old bastard."

"What in all that's holy is it?" Katya wondered.

"This is the Executor-class Star Dreadnought," Dahlgen answered. "Designed by Lira Wessex, it is the largest and most powerful class of warship ever designed and constructed with the exception of the Death Star itself."

Cronus scratched his head. "Lira Wessex? Why does that name sound familiar to me?"

"She is the daughter of Walex Blissex, the chief engineer and designer of both the Victory and Gladiator classes of Star Destroyers," Dahlgen answered. "Lira herself was the chief designer of the Venator class of Star Destroyer and both versions of the Imperial class Star Destroyer. The Executor class is her crowning achievement."

"Let's get right to it," Dijas prompted. "What's so special about this ship? What can it do?"

Dahlgen smiled, pleased that he had his team's attention. "Glad you asked. For openers, the Executor class ship officially measures 8,000 meters in length. However, Alliance estimates put that actual number at more than double the official length."

Katya shook her head in confusion. "Why would the Empire deliberately undervalue the length of its own ship?"

Dannix turned to face her. "That's easy love. They did it to lower the cost of production, on paper at least. With that little trick in place, Palpatine could easily get the cost of building it past the Senate Oversight Committee. There is no way the Senate would've allowed the construction of something so massive and expensive to proceed had they been aware of its true proportions."

"I though the Senate was dissolved though," Katya pointed out.

"That's true," Dannix replied. "However, I am willing to bet that construction on this wasn't begun five months ago when the Emperor did that."

Dahlgen nodded and pointed at his friend. "Dannix is right. According to the file, construction on the Executor class was begun approximately three and a half years ago. The oversight committees that existed back then would've definitely vetoed construction of the Executor class had they been aware of the truth. But since Palpatine did not make full disclosure…"

"What else is new?" Dawna commented dryly.

"… the oversight committees had nothing to base a veto on," Dahlgen finished.

Katya rubbed her forehead. "So construction was approved. How many of these blessed things are being constructed right now?"

"The Alliance has been able to verify that four of these ships, including the Executor itself which is the one you see here, are currently under construction," Dahlgen answered. "The Executor is being constructed at the shipyards at Fondor and the other three are being constructed at the Kuat Drive Yards. However, the Alliance strongly suspects, but as yet has not been able to prove, that at least five more of these vessels are under construction; two over Fondor, another two over Kuat and one over Coruscant. On top of that, Alliance Intelligence estimates that as many as ten others could be under construction in other locations. And even that's a conservative estimate."

"Sorry I asked," Katya groaned.

A thought occurred to Dawna. "Any idea when they are supposed to start launching?"

Dahlgen nodded. "According to the file, the Executor is officially due to launch in six months. However, Alliance High Command estimates that the Executor can be ready to launch in as little as two months. The Executor also happens to be the closest one to completion, so it will be the first launched. There is also an unconfirmed rumor that the Executor is to be presented to Lord Darth Vader for use as his personal flagship."

Cronus frowned. "Wonderful."

Dawna gestured towards the image of the Executor. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what else is this thing capable of doing?"

"It has thirteen engines that put out a maximum sublight acceleration of one thousand, two hundred thirty G with a range of forty megalights." Dahlgen continued reading through the technical specifications. "It has a class two hyperdrive and a class ten backup. Peak power output of the main reactor is seven point seven three times ten to the twenty-sixth watts and the peak output of the shields is slightly less than half of that. Hull is made of titanium reinforced alusteel which means it can shrug off all but the most concentrated of attacks from the largest of battlecruisers.

"For offensive armament, the Executor and her sisters possess two thousand turbolaser cannons which are fire-linked in groups of eight. They also possess an identical number of heavy turbolasers fire-linked in the same fashion. There are two hundred fifty concussion missile tubes housing thirty missiles apiece. Two hundred fifty heavy ion cannons, forty tractor beam projectors and five hundred point defense laser cannons to guard against star fighter attacks round out the craft's armament."

Dannix whistled in disbelief while several others shook their heads similarly. "And that's just what the vessel itself can do. Be interesting to know what it holds in terms of vehicle and troop complement."

"You're going to regret saying that," Dahlgen replied.

"Hit us with it Dad." Marsala prompted his father.

"Yeah, put us out of our misery." Dannix rolled his eyes.

"Each one of these things normally holds an entire battlegroup of TIE series fighters; one hundred, forty-four of them. And if the vessel is loaded to capacity, it can hold up to thirty-five battlegroups."

_Oh my, by the Force_. Dahlgen heard Dawna telepathically.

"Good Lord," Dannix groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

"On top of all that, the Executor and her sisters can hold up to thirty AT-ATs, forty AT-STs, two prefabricated garrison bases and up to two hundred various other assault and support craft. It carries a crew of nearly two hundred eighty thousand, an additional sixteen hundred gunners and thirty eight thousand troops. To put that in perspective, that's the equivalent of four divisions or one corps. Finally, it can carry up to a quarter million metric tons of cargo and enough supplies for the entire crew complement plus the troops for six years." Dahlgen finished his recitation.

Now Marsala shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"And thanks to the Empire's limitless greed, the Alliance and the galaxy at large are facing a minimum of ten of these things with each one of them possessing every last one of those beautiful traits." Dannix summed it all up.

"**Statement:** It's a wonder the Alliance meatbags still have the courage to carry on the fight in the face of such superior odds."

"Even I'd be scared to go up against such a ship if I was a human," Gee Tee said.

Dawna turned to face Dahlgen. "So where does this leave us?"

"The bottom line is that this is what we're up against," Dahlgen told them all. "We here believe that Project Epsilon is some new super weapon. Alliance High Command believes that Project Epsilon is somehow connected to this new class of Star Dreadnought. And after viewing these specifications, I can understand why the Alliance thinks the way it does. Assuming that the Alliance is wrong, it is up to us to prove that Project Epsilon is not only unrelated to the Executor-class ship, but something that makes the Executor and all of her sisters look insignificant."

No one spoke as they all looked at each other, wondering if that was even possible.

_Kwymar Sector… Azkul Base_

_Unknown location_

Major Derwit slowly stepped up to the closed door of the Chief Engineer's office. Not long after Katarina had gone off to do whatever it was emissaries usually did, Derwit had gotten a look at the list of the new technical staff that had arrived with her to replace the ones killed in the explosion some weeks ago. The man appointed as new Chief Engineer was a shock to him and he was almost dreading seeing him face to face. He couldn't put it off forever though, so he knocked softly.

"Who is it?" a male voice returned. "Come in."

With a heavy heart, Derwit entered and his eyes immediately fell upon a younger man in his mid-twenties with the same copper colored hair and squared jaw that he had. His frame was slightly thinner and unlike Derwit's green eyes, the younger man's eyes were blue and adorned with thin rimmed spectacles. "Hello son," Derwit said quietly.

The younger man looked up and an expression of disdain came over his features. He removed his glasses and exhaled heavily, regarding his father in near contempt. "I was wondering when you would come to see me," he replied. "Last time you never even said goodbye. Just another ordinary day for me but at the end of it… poof… you were gone."

"Is that any way to talk to your father Marlowe?"

Marlowe Derwit rolled his eyes and snorted loudly. "I suppose not father," he admitted. "But then, you haven't exactly earned the respect of a father, have you? How many affairs was it? Three? Four? More? Each of them more exciting and thrilling than the previous one. But when they began to interfere with your career, you left them behind and went searching for the next one. And then came the job offer at Fondor. You knew mom didn't want to leave Brentaal Four, yet you were determined to take that job. So, not so out of the blue, you decided that we were interfering with your precious career and off you went. You left mom and me with almost nothing!"

"I paid alimony and child support every month Marlowe," Derwit growled angrily. "Without fail!"

"Yes you did," Marlowe replied with equal aggression. "And how far do you suppose what little you sent to us went on a world like Brentaal? Most of it ended up in the bottle that mom nursed in a vain attempt to dull the pain after you left! If not for a few caring neighbors who helped us out, we would've ended up living as paupers!"

"But you didn't Marlowe." Derwit continued to defend his actions. "That's the main thing."

Marlowe slammed his fist down on his desk. "Maybe to you, but not to me! The main thing to me is that after you left I didn't have a father; there was no one I could turn to! No messages, no letters, not even a birthday wish from you! And I had to sit there alone and watch mom, in all her misery, nearly drink herself to death!"

It was the first time Derwit had been aware of his first ex-wife's problems with alcohol. Not that he blamed her for it after he'd just walked away from her. Still, he dreaded his next question. "Your mother… is she gone then?"

Marlowe looked like he wanted to strangle his father. "No father," he hissed. "She's not dead, not yet anyway. I was finally able to convince her that she needed help and she got treatment for her addiction a couple years ago." He waved his arms about in a grandiose gesture. "But even that makes little difference now. A little over six months ago her doctor told her she had twelve months to live. Cirrhosis of the liver. Ironic isn't it? After she'd finally managed to get herself dried out, she learned her alcohol consumption had already killed her."

The news of his first ex-wife's impending end shocked Major Derwit. "I'm sorry son. I had no idea."

Marlowe thrust a finger in his father's direction. "But you should have damn it!" Marlowe barely contained his anger. "You obviously never read the letter I sent you informing you of exactly that! How typical of you!"

Derwit bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry Marlowe. I won't make any excuses."

"For now anyway," Marlowe mused. He took a deep breath. "Well, now that I've finally gotten that off of my chest I can at least be civil to you since it appears I'm going to be stuck in this place for a while. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

Derwit shook his head insistently. "I swear to you son, I had no idea you were going to be posted to this assignment until just a little over an hour ago. When Moff Ulcom said he knew of an engineer who could take over for the one who was killed, I had no idea he was talking about you."

"Is that a fact?" Marlowe didn't seem particularly inclined to believe him, but he waved his hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. I just want to do what I need to do here and then get as far away from here, and you, as fast as I can."

"Son, you don't really mean that," Derwit implored.

"Oh yes I do." Marlowe cut his father off. "I'll work with you as long as I have to. But as soon as this project is over, I'm outta here and as far away from you as I can get. And before you go getting any bright ideas about making up for the past, don't. As far as I'm concerned from this moment forward our relationship is, and will always be, strictly professional. Do we have an understanding?"

Once again, Major Derwit bowed his head in shame. "If that is what you wish son, yes."

"It is," Marlowe retorted. He replaced his glasses and went back to work on his terminal. "Now then, I have a lot of work to do and that crazy emissary, Katarina, has been hounding me ever since I was roped into this project. I've had my say. If you've had yours, you can leave."

Derwit stood quietly for a moment as his son went back to work, reviewing various schematics and diagrams and occasionally making changes. He nodded once. "Sorry to have bothered you."

After his father had left, Marlowe Derwit stopped again, removed his glasses once more and rubbed his forehead. To say that he didn't like his father was an understatement. There was no way he would ever forgive the man for leaving him and his mother in favor of his damned career. It actually made him somewhat sad. As a young boy, Marlowe had looked up to his father as the greatest man in the galaxy. And then to have all that taken away from him; well, it was something he was determined not to repeat if and when he ever became a father himself.

But however much he may have disliked his father, he liked being assigned to this Project Epsilon even less. At twenty-three years of age, Marlowe had completed a double Master's Degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Imperial University on Coruscant mere days before the Battle of Yavin. With that under his belt, he'd gone searching for his calling in life with all the zeal of young man who didn't know the true realities of a galaxy at war.

Early in his prospective search, he was contacted by a member of the Imperial Armed Forces who offered him a chance to be a Research & Development Engineer. Marlowe however, had no desire to develop weapons, so he'd politely refused the offer despite the generous salaries they were offering. Shortly thereafter though, all of his other prospects began to dry up as various companies once eager to hire him began informing him that the positions he'd been interested in had been filled or that he was under qualified to perform the job. Within weeks he'd had no choice but to accept the Imperial Armed Force's "generous offer of employment"… at half the originally offered salary.

Since then, he really hadn't done much except review and improve designs of existing pieces of equipment and put his stamp of approval on them if they met his expectations. But three weeks ago, he'd been ordered to the Kwymar Sector to take over as Chief Engineer of Project Epsilon. He really hadn't wanted to go, but he wasn't given a choice. The ISB Protocol Officer who had paid him a visit last week had made sure Marlowe was aware of that. Essentially his message had been, "go or be thrown in jail." And now he felt like a slave as he had no idea what world he was on and was informed almost immediately after arriving that neither he, nor anyone else on his staff, would be allowed to leave until the project was completed. Even that, he felt, was a long shot.

And then there was Katarina, that hormonal emissary who had taken over total control of the project. Marlowe didn't scare easy, yet Katarina had the young man shaking in his shoes. And it wasn't just the threat of grievous bodily harm if he ever failed to please her, which she had threatened to do several times already. It was the sinister feeling that seemed to surround her that nearly made him vomit every time he was near her.

A few of the others claimed she was a user of the Force's dark side. Marlowe had never really believed in the Force, figuring all the supposed grand acts of wonder performed by the Jedi of long ago could be chalked up to simple magician's tricks, sleight of hand and other nonsense. But then until he'd first been introduced to Katarina, he'd never really had a chance to meet someone who could supposedly use and manipulate this mystical energy field they all kept going on about. Maybe there was something to this whole "Force" thing after all.

Marlowe put his glasses back on again and returned to his work. Despite being the official Chief Engineer of Project Epsilon, he really didn't have any clear idea of what it was and what it was supposed to do. Up to now, he'd just been going over the documentation from the first engineering team that had been killed several weeks back. That was a daunting task as there were still a vast number of data files he hadn't even looked at yet and he didn't think he'd have the opportunity anytime soon. Katarina had called for a meeting of the engineering staff in just under seventy-two hours and she made clear that by then she wanted to know why the first engineering test had failed and how the mistakes of the original team were not going to be repeated.

Katarina had originally given them only twenty-four hours to come up with the answers. Marlowe had requested a week. His request had made Katarina furious, and she promptly reminded him who was in charge of the project. With a little careful dialog, Marlowe was able to convince her that rushing his research into what had gone wrong would only guarantee another disaster, possibly bigger than the first one. As a result, Katarina had "generously conceded" to seventy-two, but not a moment longer. That didn't give Marlowe a lot of time.

Staring blankly at his work terminal, Marlowe wondered how the hell he was going to solve the power requirement issue for this project.


	6. The Descendant: Chapter 6

**The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 6**

_The Kwymar Sector – Planet Kestos Minor_

_5 months after the Battle of Yavin_

Situated just off the extreme northern section of the Hydian Way and northwest of planet Doniphon, Kestos Minor reigned as the capital planet of the Kwymar Sector. A lush, green world of semi-dense forests, grasslands, prairies and gentle rolling hills, Kestos Minor was largely an agricultural world dotted with large farms and ranches that helped supply the Kwymar Sector and other systems coreward along the Hydian Way with vast quantities of foodstuffs.

First settled about 5,200 BBY, Kestos Minor was at first home to mainly independent farmers and numerous agricultural co-ops subsidized from the Core worlds. The first city, Bascom, was constructed as the main star port and named for the leader of the first group of settlers that had arrived on the planet. And as they plowed and cultivated their lands, the original settlers settled in to a relatively peaceful, quiet existence for themselves. As the years passed two more cities, Verona and Andri, were constructed to meet the demands of shipment and so that farmers who lacked the funding of the co-ops didn't have as far to travel to ship their crops off-world.

Around 4,600 BBY, Kestos Minor and the other planets of the Kwymar Sector petitioned the Galactic Senate for admittance into the Republic. The petition was approved and in a hotly contested race, Kestos Minor just barely beat out its "sister planet", Telos IV, for the title of sector capital. Over the ensuing centuries, Telos had grown more metropolitan and moved at an infinitely more frenzied pace due to its presence on the Hydian Way. By contrast, the vast majority of people on Kestos Minor still largely preferred, and lived, the quiet life.

Not that Kestos Minor was all farming, though. The cities of Bascom, Verona and Andri had grown up with Kestos Minor and were now bustling centers of commerce. However, they did not enjoy anywhere near the prosperity that the cities of Telos did. Bascom remained the city of residence for the sector's senator, the planet's elite, wealthy business tycoons, political favor seekers, socialites, court fops and butt kissers. All of them, until recently, eagerly sought the one thing they desired from the reigning senator… more than they already had.

The planet had been relatively untouched by the Clone Wars. During the waning months of that conflict, Kestos Minor had been represented in the Galactic Senate by a young woman named Ivor Drake. As the Clone Wars drew upon their inevitable conclusion, Drake and many of her senatorial cohorts had formed the Delegation of 2000 and presented the Petition of 2000 to then-Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. It had basically called for Palpatine to abandon the use of his so-called "emergency powers" and a return to general democracy immediately upon the conclusion of the war. It had been a fruitless, last minute attempt to halt what many of the Delegation of 2000 saw as the inevitable demise of democracy, the Republic in general and the emergence of a violent dictatorship. In the end, Drake and sixty-two of her other cohorts were arrested. Though a handful of her "conspirators" were eventually released, Drake never was and her fate remained unknown to this day.

Kestos Minor had carried on in her absence, however. In the wake of the Empire's rise, the living standard on Kestos Minor had changed very little. Most inhabitants were still farmers and those who did live in the cities made their existences as comfortable as they could. A new senator, a puppet of Palpatine, was appointed in Drake's place and the Senator's House in Bascom became the Governor's Mansion. Sometime later, Moff Gerd Hazloc had been appointed regional governor and the people of Kestos Minor enjoyed life even amidst the Empire tyrannical practices.

Until the destruction of Alderaan.

That blatant act of genocide, coupled with the Alliance's stunning victory over Yavin had compelled Kestos Minor and many other planets of the Kwymar Sector to openly support the Rebel Alliance. Imperial retribution had been swift and brutal in a series of subjugation attacks throughout the sector that became known as the Kwymar Suppresions. Along with the Battle of Kestos Minor… in which the cities of Bascom, Verona and Andri were attacked… the Battles of Doniphon, Picutorion, Spuma, Telos IV and others had soundly crushed the Rebel uprising and killed thousands.

Even though the Kwymar Suppressions were officially over, major portions of the cities of Bascom, Verona and Andri were in ruins and just starting to be cleaned up. Tens of thousands across the sector were still without some of the most basic of necessities such as food and shelter and the Empire cared nothing about what happened to those poor souls. As long as the sector submitted to Palpatine's rule, the plights of the casualties and refugees were ignored.

All of these things rolled through Dahlgen's mind as he stood at the bottom of the _Silver Horizon's_ boarding ramp, leaning against the support strut. The sun was just starting to come up and the morning air had a slight crispness to it. A light breeze gently played with his long, black hair and Dahlgen drew in a deep, relaxing breath despite the general turmoil he sensed around the planet. Late the previous night, the _Silver Horizon_ had landed on Kestos Minor. Rather than subject the _Horizon_ to exorbitantly high docking fees and tariffs by landing in one of the major starports, Dahlgen had decided to land at the private landing pad on one of the large farms he owned on the planet.

Correction, the farm that Vincent Bralor, his alter ego, owned. Even though the farm did have a main house, Dahlgen and the others didn't envision being on Kestos Minor for very long and therefore, had elected not to open the house up for residence.

Thinking ahead to the Governor's Reception that would be held the following night at the Governor's Mansion, Dahlgen frowned. The galaxy at large knew just how brutal the Kwymar Suppressions had been, yet the Empire was trying to put its own spin on it all by showing nothing but a peaceful prosperous world that was relatively unaffected by what had transpired. Dahlgen seriously doubted that anyone, save for the staunchest Imperial loyalists, would believe it.

Dahlgen knew that learning something regarding Project Epsilon at the Governor's Reception was a long shot, but right now it was the only shot they had. All the good intentions and theories in the galaxy amounted to nothing if the Force did not lead them to the answers they all sought. _Patience_, Dahlgen told himself. _If there are answers to be found at the reception, they will be found._

He felt a presence behind him and turned to see Dawna halfway down the boarding ramp staring at him. "Dawna?" Dahlgen curiously asked with a smile. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Dawna answered almost blankly. "I sensed you weren't sleeping and when I woke, I instinctively knew I would find you here." A slight snort escaped her lips. "It's our bond isn't it?"

Dahlgen nodded. "Yes it is. I told you that many aspects of it were going to surprise you and that it all would take some getting used to."

"Yes but, I'm not sure I like having you constantly in my head like this," Dawna complained.

"Oh come on now Dawna," Dahlgen joked. "I'm not that repulsing am I?"

Dawna's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "That's not what I meant Dahlgen."

"Really? Then what did you mean?" Dahlgen challenged her. He waved his hand and slowly walked towards her. "You don't have to answer that. Not to me anyway. But you do need to answer it to yourself, and honestly. Because like it or not, this bond is a part of you now as it is a part of me. This sort of thing is but one of the many issues that my family has been trying to sort out ever since Revan himself. We talked about this earlier. But it seems like you are just now beginning to see what the true capacity of this unique trait is. It is not something to be squandered or taken lightly."

"I never said it was." Dawna was getting cross.

"I'm pleased if you truly feel that way Dawna." Dahlgen felt that now would be a good time to change the subject. "Now then, given the time, perhaps you would care to engage in a different type of sparring rather than verbal?"

"You mean with the lightsaber?"

"What else?"

Dawna nodded. "Very well. I'll get changed."

"No need for that," Dahlgen told her. "What you have on is fine. Just get your weapon."

Dawna wore a simple white T-shirt with a tight pair of black shorts. They were her normal sleeping clothes, but were unsuitable for anything else, at least in her mind. "Dahlgen, I must change!" she said sharply. "I'm not dressed!"

"I will politely remind you Dawna that I am training you. Not the other way around. For what I have in mind, you have all the clothes you need. Now, are you going to abide by my instructions, or is this training session going to end before it even gets started?" Dahlgen challenged.

Dawna clicked her tongue and nodded. "You're right. Forgive my outburst. All right then, be right back."

With the unmistakable hum and clash of lightsaber blades echoing in their ears, Dahlgen swiftly dodged Dawna's Makashi attack and countered with a Shien style assault of his own, driving her back. He had led her to a secluded spot in the woodlands just off the farm's property and begun the sparring exercise. Dahlgen lunged forward with a simple _shiak_ stab and goaded Dawna into batting it away. Dahlgen reacted by bringing his other blade around to strike at Dawna's chest, but she wasn't fooled and parried the attack, forcing Dahlgen back to a ready stance.

"Well done," he complimented with a smile. "Now let's see if you can guard against this."

Dahlgen advanced with a series of Juyo style assaults. Seeing the deceptively short movements of his weapon, Dawna nevertheless stepped into the assault. Her saber was a blaze of motion as it contacted Dahlgen's double saber in shower of sparks. The beautiful Sith woman parried Dahlgen's attack and retreated back into a guard stance. Dahlgen didn't let up as he drove a Dijen So style attack on Dawna, but she shifted her momentum and brought her blade around her right side. Dahlgen was forced to abandon his assault, guard against Dawna's counter attack and retreat to a neutral stance once more.

Dawna pressed her advantage, battering away at Dahlgen's defense with short, powerful strikes. She thrust her blade forward and overdid it a bit. In retaliation, Dahlgen caught her weapon in a trap and grabbed her by the shoulder. "I thought I taught you better than that. Never, ever overextend your thrust Dawna! You are vulnerable, and…" He hammered Dawna on her right side just above the waist, dumping her rather unceremoniously onto her backside, "… off balance."

Dawna rolled backwards to her feet and swept Dahlgen's feet out from under him, causing him to crash onto his backside. Both of them regarded each other for a split second as they brought their weapons to bear. Their sabers came together again in a blaze of motion and crackling sounds. As they weaved and angled their blades, matching each other stroke for stroke, they ended up nose to nose with each other in a saber lock. "Counter! Counter!" Dahlgen yelled.

Dawna obliged by shifting her weight and Dahlgen lost his footing. With a graceful move common to Niman practitioners, Dawna batted Dahlgen's weapon aside and hit him with a Force Wave. Though Dahlgen was able to get a Force Shield up in time, the powerful blast nevertheless shoved him back several meters.

"Good!" Dahlgen said. He'd barely gotten the word out when he suddenly switched to Form IV, Ataru and re-engaged the battle, coming at Dawna with a leaping overhead attack. Thereafter, Dahlgen turned and flipped all around Dawna, pounding away at her defenses as he did. But he had trained Dawna well, and she instinctively knew where each of strikes was going to land, successfully parrying each assault while keeping her body just out of Dahlgen's considerable attack range.

Finally, after what seemed like a ceaseless battering, Dahlgen pivoted away from Dawna and lowered his weapon. Signaling to her that the training session was now over, he deactivated his weapon and returned it to his belt. He nodded to her and a smile of satisfaction appeared on his features. "Well done Dawna. Your skills are better than ever."

As she extricated herself from the Force's power, Dawna felt like she was about to faint. In all of their sparring sessions, never had Dahlgen tested her the way he had this morning. Physically, she was exhausted. Her entire upper body was soaked in sweat, her white shirt clinging to her chest and leaving very little to the imagination. Her arms and legs were stiff and painful from the constant exertion and she focused her energies on those areas in an attempt to relieve the discomfort.

_Focus on me Dawna._ Dahlgen spoke to her telepathically. _Seek out our bond. Use my reserves to ease your discomfort._

Falling to her knees, Dawna did as Dahlgen instructed. Sifting through her own Force energy, it did not take her long to find the bond she shared with Dahlgen. With great concentration, she was able to use their combined energies to center herself and ease her stress. Soon, she had regained control of her pulse and was no longer breathing heavy. It was the fastest she had ever recovered from such strenuous activity and it amazed her.

Dahlgen knelt in front of her on the ground, sweat dripping from his face. His scent played with Dawna's nose and caused her to become slightly light headed. He nodded in satisfaction. "I'm impressed by your skill Dawna." Dahlgen spoke. "I didn't think this sparring match would last as long as it has. I have trained you better than I imagined."

Dawna smiled. "Like I've said before, I couldn't ask for a better teacher." She furrowed her eyebrows a bit. "But you know, it's strange. As we were sparring just now I felt more in tune with what you were doing. It was as if I could anticipate your moves and intercept them sooner and faster than ever before."

Dahlgen nodded. "Yes. It was no different for me Dawna. I think you know why that is."

Dawna rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yes, I dare say that I do. I also was able to recover a lot quicker than usual using our combined energies."

Dahlgen nodded. "Yes, that doesn't surprise me. I imagine it was the same for Revan and Bastila. For a time anyway. It has been hinted at that after periods of extreme exertion, they would rely on their "gift" as they called it, to re-center and recalibrate themselves so to speak."

Dawna cocked her head to one side and looked at Dahlgen quizzically. "I know I referred to this bond once as a gift, but, is it truly a gift?"

"Bastila sure seemed to think so," Dahlgen replied. "In the diaries she kept after the Battle of Lehon, Bastila refused to refer to it as anything but a gift. She even did so despite her life-long separation from Revan soon afterward." Dahlgen interlaced his fingers and thoughtfully added, "It remains to be seen whether or not we will eventually refer to ours in the same manner."

Dawna smiled and looked at Dahlgen in a way he'd seen before, but only fleeting. It could only best be described as longing. "Yes, I guess it does," she said quietly. She suddenly caught herself and fumbled to get to her feet. "Well, I think I'll go freshen up."

"Oh we're not done yet Dawna," Dahlgen counseled her.

The statement took Dawna by surprise. "We're not?"

"No." Dahlgen patted the ground in front of him. "Sit with me Dawna."

Intrigued, Dawna did as Dahlgen asked her to do, sitting lotus-style in front of him. She looked upon her friend with a feeling of both anticipation and curiosity. "What is it Dahlgen?"

Dahlgen looked into Dawna's eyes for a moment and remained silent. When he finally did speak, his words surprised her. "The night you were wounded Dawna, I received a vision. Well, more of a visit really. A visit from my ancestor, Revan."

In the six years Dawna had been a companion of Dahlgen, she had learned many things about him. One of those was when he had a vision it was to be taken seriously, especially if that vision included one of his ancestors. Immediately she was interested and did not try to hide it. "From Revan? What did he say?"

"He said that I had done a good job of teaching you basic Jedi techniques," Dahlgen replied. "But now it was time for your training to advance to the next step. That is partly why I pushed you harder this morning than I ever have before. I wanted to test you. And you did better than I expected. Only time will tell if Revan is right or not in his assessment. But for my part, I believe he is. Therefore, I will grant his wish."

Dawna nodded slowly. "Dahlgen, I'm humbled that both you and Revan feel it is time for my training to progress. And I assure you that I will do everything I can to be successful."

Dahlgen smiled. "I have no doubt that you will Dawna. Just be ever mindful of one thing. The Dark Side awaits around every corner. And you as a member of the Sith race may be especially susceptible to it. What I am about to show you, will take time to master properly. To try and seek quick answers and routes to mastery is to invite impatience and that in turn, invites the Dark Side."

Again, Dawna slowly nodded. "I know Dahlgen. I have been patient before. I can be patient now." For a brief second, Dawna wondered just what she meant from her own statement.

"Good," Dahlgen smiled. "As the Jedi themselves are rare in the galaxy, so too are the variety of Force powers they can wield. Some of these powers and manifestations are rarer than others. Even since the days of Revan himself, my family has been a source of several of these less than common powers."

"Like the Battle Meditation that you taught to Marsala last year?"

"Exactly like it," Dahlgen confirmed. "Battle Meditation has long been associated with my family, going all the way back to Bastila herself. Others in the family who have used this power include Bastila's later descendant Satele. Even my own mother, Jalindas, knew the basics this power."

"Is that what you're going to teach me now?" Dawna wondered. There was no hint of anticipation behind the question. Merely curiosity.

Dahlgen shook his head. "No. One day I will. But you are not ready to learn that power yet. Instead, I will show you two other rare powers that Revan knew. Once you have mastered these, we will move on to the next one. Are you ready?"

Dawna nodded. "Yes."

Dahlgen got to his feet. "Then follow me please." He led Dawna to a large oak tree a few meters away. Resting his hand against it, he faced Dawna. "One of the powers that Revan knew from childhood was the power of Force Climb. You've seen me use this power before and it is now time that you learned it yourself. Through intense concentration it enabled him, as it enables me, to climb rough vertical surfaces without the aid of any climbing devices. It made him very useful as an infiltrator, particularly during the Mandalorian and Jedi Civil Wars. As I said, you've seen me use this power before, but now watch, truly watch, as I demonstrate."

Turning to the tree, Dahlgen opened himself to the Force and anchored his right hand flat against the tree. Satisfied with that, Dahlgen next anchored his left hand against the tree a little higher than his right. Pushing up, he placed his left foot against the tree followed by his right. Focusing his Force energy on himself, he began to walk up the large oak tree much a like a giant predatory cat. Before Dawna knew it, Dahlgen had climbed all the way up and back down the old tree without using any of the branches to brace himself.

"Your turn," Dahlgen said. "We're not trying to break any speed records here, only familiarize yourself with the power. So go only as far and as fast as you feel you can."

"All right," Dawna replied. She closed her eyes and opened herself to the Force, envisioning herself climbing the tree. With the Force's energy flowing through her, she was only just aware of her actions, as she reached out and raised herself up the base of the trunk. Encouraged by her own actions, she moved higher. She detected a large branch nearby and moved deftly to one side to avoid it. It was tempting to use it a brace, but that was not the task Dahlgen had set before her and he would not be pleased if she did.

Climbing higher still, Dawna realized she had climbed nearly as high as Dahlgen had. But her arms were starting to tire and ache and she became afraid she might fall. _No_, she told herself. _Be calm. Search for an answer._ The answer she sought was found through the Force bond she shared with Dahlgen. While her own Force reserves were draining, his were steady and strong. It was a beacon of stability just for her. Drawing on those reserves through their special link, Dawna found herself rejuvenated and she completed her climb to the top. Proud of her accomplishment, Dawna smiled as she started back down, careful not to let her pride break her concentration.

Dawna alighted on the ground, pleased with her results. Next to her, Dahlgen was also smiling. "Very good Dawna. I was wondering if you would turn to our bond and tap into my Force reserves as your own started to become depleted."

"I didn't really have to think about it," Dawna said. "I just knew what I had to do and did it."

"That's good. As you become more and more proficient with this power, you will have to rely on my Force reserves to help you less and less. You will also find as you become more proficient that you will be able to scale perfectly smooth walls and even inverted surfaces. At his peak, Revan was able to walk along ceilings and climb ten story buildings in less than half a minute seconds with this power. According to him, it got him into trouble a few times as a young padawan."

"How so?"

"That I can't tell you," Dahlgen replied. "Revan refused to talk about it."

"I wonder about that," Dawna said dryly.

Dahlgen chuckled. "Now then, the next power I will teach you, is one that Revan called Molecular Twist. More recently, it has simply been known as Phase. It's even rarer than Force Climb and a lot more difficult to master because a certain amount of personal risk comes with it. With great concentration, Revan was able to alter his own molecular structure and pass through objects that would normally be impossible to move through. In short, he was able to move through solid walls, doors and anything else that would normally be impossible to move through. If you will observe…"

Once more Dahlgen turned to the tree and opened himself completely to the Force. Feeling its currents flow through him, Dahlgen raised his right arm and slowly thrust it forward. When it contacted the tree, a slight spatial distortion appeared around the point of contact along with a white glow of energy. His fingers disappeared beneath the outer surface, followed by his hand and soon his arm all the way to his elbow. Dawna watched in wide-eyed amazement as Dahlgen pushed his entire right arm through the tree and his hand and wrist came out the other side. He wiggled his fingers a bit to show Dawna that he still had full control of his limb. Finally, Dahlgen slowly withdrew his arm until it was completely out and there was no sign whatsoever that anything had ever happened.

"The danger with this is that you can lose your concentration and end up trapped inside whatever it is you are trying to pass through," Dahlgen warned with a shake of his finger. "Or worse. Several poorly trained or inexperienced Jedi have ended up getting killed through misuse of this power because they lacked the control required to maintain it and wound up becoming entombed inside something they were trying to pass through. For this reason, I do not recommend trying to pass through anything wider than your own person unless it is absolutely necessary. Even then, great care must be taken to avoid a potentially fatal accident."

Dawna took a deep, semi-apprehensive breath as the gravity of Dahlgen's words sank in.

"Now, it's your turn." Dahlgen encouraged his Wroonian friend. "Only I want you to do it on this smaller branch here." As he spoke, he patted a larger tree branch about three inches in diameter.

Dawna took another deep breath and reached into the Force. Concentrating on the molecular structure of her own body, she began to twist and manipulate the bonds that held it together. Reaching forward with her right hand, she slowly thrust it forward. She encountered a little resistance at first as it contacted the tree. With a little more concentration, the resistance lessened and she thrust her hand forward through the branch some more. She was aware of a slight breeze on her hand as it came out the other side of the branch. Repeating Dahlgen's gesture of wiggling her fingers, Dawna slowly began to withdraw her hand until she had completely extracted it from the branch.

"Excellent Dawna." Dahlgen smiled at her accomplishment. "You probably felt a little resistance as you pushed through, yes?"

"Mm hm." Dawna nodded.

"That's normal," Dahlgen counseled. "Even when you master this power, you will feel a slight bit of resistance whenever you try to push through something like that. That bit of resistance is normally what throws off an inexperienced Jedi and leads to accidents with this power. I cannot stress this point strongly enough; do not let that resistance distract you or else the results could be fatal. Another thing to keep in mind is that this power also manipulates whatever may being adhering to you, such as clothing. Those types of object will also be forced through whatever it is you are trying to pass through." He tossed Dawna his lightsaber and directed her to stand on the other side of the tree. "It also works for something you may be grasping with your hand. Observe." Dahlgen raised his hand again and passed it through the tree once more. But this time, when his hand passed out the other side, he took his lightsaber from Dawna and pulled it back through the tree, clipping it to his belt after he had completely extracted it.

The action stunned her. "Incredible," she said. "I see why a power like that would be of considerable use to someone who makes a living out of staying hidden or making surprise assaults."

"Indeed," Dahlgen agreed.

"You mentioned that these powers were rare, even amongst the Jedi," Dawna observed. "Just how rare were they?"

"Extremely," Dahlgen nodded. "During the Mandalorian Wars, Revan and Malak were the only two confirmed to know Force Climb though there was an unconfirmed rumor that Zayne Carrick knew it as well."

"Zayne Carrick? Never heard of him."

"He was a heroic, if less than ideal, Jedi who played a major role in the outcome of the Mandalorian Wars." Dahlgen smirked. "He was also self-proclaimed proof that the Force had a sense of humor."

Dawna laughed. "And what about Molecular Twist?"

"I've only known of two others who know that power," Dahlgen claimed. "Satele Shan and, more recently, the Jedi Master An'ya Kuro."

"The Dark Woman?" Dawna asked.

"That's her," Dahlgen replied.

"Were you and her related?"

Dahlgen nodded in affirmation. "Yes though it was a very, very distant relationship. It's almost not worth mentioning. All that sixth cousin, nine times removed or whatever the true connection was always confused me. But there was a family connection there. I don't know however, if she ever knew she was related to Revan. Now, only you and I know these powers. Not even my son knows them. Not yet anyway. In time, I will teach him as well. For now, you and I are the keepers of Revan's legacy."

Dawna took a deep breath and smiled at Dahlgen with pride and admiration. "In that case Dahgen, I am humbled and honored to help you maintain that legacy."

_Kwymar Sector – Azkul Base_

_Unknown Location_

In the darkness of Azkul Base's Command Conference Room, Marlowe Derwit had the attention of everyone in the room as they all watched a playback of a holo recording. The holo recording detailed the final few minutes of the lives of the previous engineering team. Though they all knew what end result was, none of them had actually reviewed the security feeds that had witnessed it firsthand. And although he didn't particularly want to review the feed, Marlowe felt it had to be done to explain how to avoid a similar disaster in the future.

With the lights out, Marlowe couldn't see how the others were reacting though he could guess on a few of them. Lady Katarina was probably sitting with her arms crossed in discontent, his father was more than likely riveted to everything that was going on and Lieutenant Alston was repulsed by it. Curious bunch he was working with.

"Now at this point," Marlowe called out without stopping the playback. "They are forty seconds away from beginning the test, fifty-five seconds away from detonation."

The playback continued and the doomed individuals milled about, each of them doing their little part that contributed to the eventual failure of the test and their unfortunate demise. Marlowe wanted to scream at them to stop, that what they were doing was going to kill them all. But shouting at a recording was less than pointless.

An elderly gentleman, the previous lead engineer, issued some unheard instructions to several members of his staff then took a position at a central computer console in preparation for the beginning of the test. He lowered a set of shielded goggles over his eyes and motioned for everyone to so the same. A yellow warning strobe positioned close to the camera that had recorded the scene began to flash.

"Twenty-five seconds to detonation," Marlowe announced.

The others watching the playback remained silent as the scientists on the screen began moving away from the large cylindrical shape in the center of the room. With all of the conduits, antenna and whatnot coming off the thing, it reminded Marlowe somewhat of the head of some large pack animal. A few of the scientists moved toward where the lead engineer stood while others moved to different positions. Several of them covered their ears as an unheard klaxon horn began sounding. Marlowe had a sickening feeling in his gut as he observed the lead engineer manipulate the control console to begin the test.

He paused the playback and addressed the room. "At this point the test begins. Almost immediately, things start to go wrong, culminating in the explosion fifteen seconds later."

Marlowe restarted the playback. The first indication that anything was wrong with the scene came almost immediately when the yellow strobe turned red. Immediately, the scientists on the screen became frantic in their movements as several, including the lead engineer appeared to be trying to shut the test down. Others desperately tried to get out of the testing chamber before the inevitable happened. But the doors leading out had been sealed. In a last ditch attempt to stop the test, the lead engineer then hit the Emergency Stop button, but it was to no avail. The power generator in the center of the room was already glowing a sinister looking red.

Marlowe counted off the final seconds aloud. "Five… four… three… two… one…"

The power generator exploded and a blinding white flash instantly enveloped the screen, overloading the camera's sensors for several seconds. As it slowly recovered, the bright whiteness was gradually replaced with various shades of orange and red and finally cleared enough to reveal the intense fire that had resulted from the explosion. Most of the scientists had been instantly incinerated, but they could all see a handful of the scientists crawling on the floor with their bodies in flames and desperately seeking the help that would arrive too late to save them.

Marlowe couldn't watch as one of the scientists staggered around the test chamber, his entire body covered in fire. He flailed his arms about in a feeble attempt to put out the flames that enveloped him and finally he collapsed to the floor. Marlowe knew from the reports, this had been the previous lead engineer. Composing himself, he looked up and stopped the playback just as the fire suppression teams arrived on the scene.

The lights came back on in the room. "Security cut the feed two seconds later," Marlowe said. "As we all already know, no one who was in the test chamber when the blast occurred survived."

Katarina sat in the chair typically reserved for the base commander, looking like the past several moments of her life had been a general waste of her time. Immediately to her right sat Moff Hazloc, newly promoted to stormtrooper captain TK8275 and another member of Marlowe's staff. On her left were Major Derwit and Lieutenant Alston.

Katarina yawned loudly, clearing indicating her boredom. "We're all familiar with this Lieutenant." She rolled her eyes. "What I want to know is how you are going to ensure this doesn't happen again?"

Inside, Marlowe bristled. Upon his arrival, he had officially been given a military rank despite having never served in any kind of official capacity before. He hated it. He'd also expected that kind of indifference from Katarina. "I've researched, as best I can, the materials and procedures of the test, along with its intended goals. From that I have been able to reasonably conclude that the test was doomed to failure before it even started."

Moff Hazloc became interested. "How so?"

To answer, Marlowe turned back to the holo player and called up a document that to the untrained person, contained a lot of nonsensical equations and numbers. "I know that this looks very complicated to most, if not all of you. And you probably think its way over your head. For the most part, you'd probably be right. However, I need you all to pay particular attention to this right here." Marlowe used a laser pointer to highlight an equation that was bolder that the rest.

"The original engineering team used a thallium alloy seal with an iridium alloy shell to contain the energy generated by the test. Now if you look at these numbers you'll see that eight point six, seven, seven, nine times ten to eighteenth watts of power was generated; slightly more than the eight point six, seven, five times ten to the eighteenth watts required. Yet by contrast, a thallium / iridium alloy seal can only withstand six point zero, seven, two, five times ten to the eighteenth watts. That's only seventy percent of the required power output and these figures indicate that the previous test began to fail at exactly that point. Yet because the emergency stop failed to terminate the test, the generator kept going until it reached critical mass and obliterated itself along with the entire engineering team. I don't know how the original team made this blunder and could spend weeks, if not months trying to find an answer that would be conjecture at best. The fact is the test never should've been initiated and these figures prove it."

"So then all we need to do is strengthen the containment unit," Major Derwit stated the obvious without really understanding the situation.

Marlowe raised his finger, indicating his next point was not to be dismissed. "Therein lies one of several problems. There are very few materials out there that can be added to the containment unit alloy that will withstand the kind of power you hope to generate. In fact, if this project wasn't attempting something which already existed, I would say it was impossible. Even titanium reinforced alusteel or cortosis would come up short and those are two of the densest materials you can get."

"I think you're wrong Lieutenant," Katarina insisted. "Star destroyers are made from alusteel and they generate more power than what you just said."

"Star destroyer reactors are also half the size of this entire complex," Marlowe countered. "Not a two meter sized cylinder. You try to generate that kind of power in such a small space and alusteel will vaporize faster that this containment unit did. End of story."

"So what are you suggesting then," his father asked.

"As I said, there are a very limited number of materials that can be used to strengthen the containment unit to desired specifications," Marlowe replied. After careful consideration of these options, I believe the only element that will satisfy these conditions is one called tertronium."

Katarina folded her arms over her chest in discontent. "And what exactly is tertronium?"

"In its natural state, tertronium is a rocky ore, much like most other metals found in nature," Marlowe explained. "In a refined state, tertronium is incredibly dense metal that is capable of withstanding energy and radiation outputs on a scale higher than most other elements. That said, even tertronium by itself would not be enough to withstand the power output required of this test. It would have to be combined with the other two metals to achieve the desired result."

Moff Hazloc smiled. "Well if all we need is tertronium, that shouldn't be too difficult."

"That's what you think sir," Marlowe replied. "Our second problem is that tertronium is one of the rarest elements in the galaxy and it commands top credit on the market. There are only a few active mines left and what is found is largely sold before it's even pulled out of the ground. You could try to purchase some from an existing mine, but you could be waiting months and get nothing for your effort as tertronium is largely sold based on future reserves. Perhaps you could even try to siphon some off discreetly from such a source. However, for the quantity you will require it will not go undetected.

"This brings us to our next problem which is the refinement of the ore. Refining tertronium ore into usable tertronium is an almost prohibitively expensive process which doesn't yield much in the way of results. For every one thousand kilograms of ore that is mined, a whopping total of one kilogram of pure tertronium can be extracted. From my initial calculations, we're going to need no less than thirty-five hundred kilograms of pure tertronium to achieve the desired results."

There were several snorts and groans of disbelief around the conference table. Moff Hazloc voiced the opinion for all of them. "Are you saying that we're going to need three and a half million kilograms of this ore to achieve our purpose?"

"That is exactly what I am saying sir," Marlowe nodded. "Not to mention you will need to expand this facility by forty percent to accommodate a refinery suitable to the task of refining the tertronium ore into pure tertronium. That is, unless you happen to have another refinery available that was specifically built for this task.

"Now we come to our next problem which is combining the tertronium with the thallium and the iridium. Combining tertronium with anything is difficult at best and, like refining the tertronium, it's going to be almost prohibitively expensive."

"So why are we even considering tertronium," his father asked in exasperation. "Why not use cortosis or alusteel?"

Marlowe smiled patiently. "Because sir, the process for mining and refining corotsis is more than twice as long as the same process is for tertronium. Not to mention that cortosis is three times heavier the tertronium." He shrugged. "You'll need five times as much cortosis or alusteel as you would tertronium to achieve the results you want."

"Forget I asked," his father relented, unhappy his son had referred to him as "sir".

"And this all boils down to our final problem. To get the quantity of tertronium that is required for this power generator, you will have to consider the admittedly unlikely possibility that a new source of tertronium needs to be located. That will not be an easy task as a new deposit of tertronium has not been discovered in over two centuries. It would be like searching for a single Jawa amidst Coruscant's one trillion inhabitants."

Moff Hazloc gave Marlowe an extremely irate look. "You need to understand something here Lieutenant. I am an Outer Rim Sector Moff. I do not have the kinds of resources that you are talking about to commit to such an endeavor."

"I do understand that sir, but you all need to understand this," Marlowe nodded in barely contained contempt. "Without tertronium, this project stalls indefinitely right here. No further progress will be made without it. End of discussion."

Katarina's eyes narrowed in anger. "And if I order you continue the project without it?"

Marlowe spread his arms wide. "That is your decision Madam Katarina, and I will abide accordingly. But if you do, then know in advance that any design that my team and I come up with will meet with the same disastrous results as the first team's attempt. And any subsequent team that follows will meet the same fate as well." He interlaced his fingers behind his back and leaned forward slightly. "How many more engineering teams do you think the Emperor will tolerate losing before he pays this facility a personal visit and starts asking questions?"

Major Derwit looked at his son with wide eyes, not quite believing he'd just told the emissary off.

Katarina's rage was beginning to boil over as she was not used to being told off like that. As her jaw tightened, her fingers curled around the hilt of her lightsaber. Oh how she wanted to leap over the table and slice off his head. The arrogant little kid had it coming. It would remind everyone else that she was final authority on this project and her orders were not to be questioned. But, damn it all, the kid did have a point. The Emperor had entrusted the project to her. To have him suddenly show up and usurp her authority would be a sign of failure in his eyes. And failure was something that Emperor Palpatine tolerated even less than she did. And she had an idea about the tertronium.

Regaining a small measure of control, Katarina released her grip on her weapon. "All right, everybody get out," she commanded with a sweeping motion of her hand. "Except you Moff Hazloc. I need to discuss something with you in private."

Moff Hazloc's curiosity was piqued. "What is it Katarina?" he asked after the others had all left the room.

"Come with me," Katarina ordered as she rose from her seat. She led the curious Moff out of the conference room and across the base to the Command Center. Many of the command center personnel watched her and Katarina sensed their intimidation. Good. Still, she sensed a couple strange men in the room who were turned on by her outfit. Maybe changing into the armored bustier, skin tight leather pants and stiletto heels had been a mistake. Who cared? She was the Project Administrator now and anyone who did not respect that would be reminded of that in a short but painful way. She stopped at another blast door that by protocol was to be kept locked at all times.

"That's the throne room!" Moff Hazloc said sharply enough for everyone in the Command Center to hear. "We're not allowed in there!"

"Ordinarily, you would be right Moff Hazloc," Katarina agreed. "But then as an official emissary and Hand of His Majesty, Emperor Palpatine, I am allowed inside. Therefore, as of this moment, you are allowed inside as is anyone else whom I give permission to. But know this Moff Hazloc, when I am not inside this room it is to remain locked and is off limits to everybody per Imperial regulations. The price of failure to comply with those regulations to my satisfaction Moff Hazloc, for you and for many in this room, would be catastrophic. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly milady," Moff Hazloc replied with a gulp of fear.

Katarina wasted no more time and used her special code to unlock the Throne Room. It was a code known only to her and it had been issued to her by the Emperor himself. Being his Hand did have its privileges. The interior lighting automatically came on when movement was detected as Katarina crossed the many meters long floor and ascended the short flight of steps to the throne. Seating herself in it, she turned and looked out the transparisteel window at the ISD _Charybdis_ in the distance.

Ordinarily, she wasn't allowed to sit on Palpatine's throne and any transgression as such would be punishable by immediate execution. But as she was Palpatine's Hand, and therefore present at Azkul Base under his direct authority, she was allowed to make use of the Throne Room during her tenure as Project Administrator. Of course that would be all out the window should Palpatine decide to pay the facility a personal visit, but at the moment that didn't seem likely.

Katarina smiled to herself as she settled into her surroundings. Her master had always encouraged her to think and plan big. She rested her elbows on the arm rests, interlaced her fingers in front of herself and crossed her right leg over left. Oh yes, she could get used to this quite easily. But she still had to be careful. No doubt there was an undercover ISB agent somewhere back in the command center who was reporting what she was doing to his handlers at this very moment. She'd have to keep that little weasel, whoever he was, occupied with a lot of misinformation and bureaucratic nonsense.

Moff Hazloc cleared his throat, indicating he was still present. "Milady, I thought you wished to discuss something with me in private?"

Ah yes. She'd been so caught up in her own dreams and fantasies that she'd momentarily forgotten he was tailing her. Swiveling around to face him, Katarina asked, "Does that arrogant kid really know what the hell he's talking about?"

Moff Hazloc considered for a moment before giving her a somewhat affirmative shrug. "In a perfect galaxy, I'd say yes. He does after all, come with the highest recommendations milady."

"In a perfect galaxy, all right," Katarina replied with a nod. "I tend to believe you Moff Hazloc. And in that case, I believe I know where we can get our hands on some of this tertronium stuff the young, arrogant kid spoke of," Katarina informed the Moff.

Moff Hazloc was immediately interested. "Really? Where is that?"

"The Japrael Sector. Specifically, the planet of Onderon."

Moff Hazloc frowned. "Onderon? Onderon is largely a jungle world full of some of the most vicious predators in the galaxy. I find it hard to believe that such a planet would have a deposit of tertronium in it."

"Believe what you wish Moff Hazloc," Katarina retorted. "It's there. Has been for centuries upon centuries. When the Mandalorians took over the world during the Mandalorian Wars, they discovered a deposit of the substance and began mining it immediately. They were able to extract tens of millions of kilograms of the ore before the Republic forces drove them off the planet. After the wars ended, the mine was sealed and largely forgotten over the ensuing millennia."

"Then how can you be sure it isn't just some spacer's tale?" Moff Hazloc inquired.

"Let's just say I have my ways Moff Hazloc," Katarina told him.

"All right, suppose for argument's sake that you're right and there is a deposit of tertronium of Onderon. How do you propose we obtain it? Onderon has been largely left alone since the Empire replaced the Republic. They will never allow us to mine it openly."

"They can give us access to the tertronium the easy way or the hard way Moff Hazloc," Katarina stated flatly. "Which way they choose is of no consequence to me."

"If you are planning what I think you're planning, then as your chief advisor I must express a word of caution," Moff Hazloc. "Such an act could cost us valuable and potentially irreplaceable resources."

"And if we do not have the tertronium, then the project stalls indefinitely like the little engineer said," Katarina growled. "Would you care to be the one to explain that to His Majesty?" When Hazloc failed to respond, Katarina laughed. "No, I didn't think so Moff Hazloc. My mind is made up on this. Order Marlowe Derwit to begin a full scale analysis of our available space. Tell him to determine what equipment we would need installed to refine tertronium and whether or not it would fit in what space we currently have available or if any modifications would need to be made. If modifications are required, I want to know what they are and how we can achieve them in the shortest possible time. Lastly, tell him that I expect that report to be in my hands within the next forty-eight hours. Is all that clear Moff Hazloc?"

"Perfectly milady."

"Good. As for you my dear Hazloc, I expect a full report detailing our available reserves for the invasion of Onderon in my hands by oh-nine hundred hours tomorrow."

Moff Hazloc was caught by surprise. "My Lady, there is the Governor's Reception at my personal residence this evening," he protested. "I shall be tied up with that most of the night and I must leave within the next two hours if I am to be able to receive my guests in time."

The smile that Katarina presented him with was decidedly unfriendly. "Then I would strongly suggest that you get started right away Moff Hazloc." Her smile vanished and was replaced by a hard frown. "I told you, I don't tolerate excuses." She casually waved him off as she swiveled back towards the window once more. "Now get out. You obviously have a lot of work to do and a lot of people to hob nob with."

With a look barely contained anger on his face, Moff Hazloc stormed from the Throne Room wondering just how he had lost control of Project Epsilon.

Alone in his quarters, Vilnius fingered the data disc that he had retrieved from his personal computer terminal and thought long and hard about what he had just done. Using one of the computer terminals in the base's droid maintenance suite with a bootlegged ID signature, he had tapped into the security feeds and recorded the entire meeting in the command conference room as well as the private meeting in the Throne Room with crystal clear audio. Just to be sure that his decidedly illegal and treasonous act was never traced however he had bounced that signal between several deep space relays before routing the signal back to his own personal terminal with another bootlegged ID signature. If the signal happened to be traced, all the watchdogs would find was a pair of terminals that didn't exist. Vilnius found it ironic that the some of the extra skills the Empire had taught him, he was now using against them.

He continued fingering the data disc. It wasn't too late. If he threw it down the refresher now, no one would ever be the wiser. He could go on about his life in faithful service to the Empire, continue to reap its benefits such as they were and look forward to a life of relative obscurity.

_Who the hell am I kidding_, Vilnius thought. _If the Empire even imagined that I recorded that meeting, I'd be as good as dead whether they had proof or not._ And the Empire… the Empire wasn't who Vilnius was. He hadn't been who he truly was in years. Now was the time to start making some drastic changes in his life. _Like momma used to tell me, "In for a gizka, in for a rancor."_

Pacing about his quarters, Vilnius realized he still had a formidable challenge before him. First of all, what the hell should he do with this recording? It's not like he had contacts in the Rebel Alliance. And even if he did, how would he get it to them? What would they do with it? It didn't take a genius to figure out the meeting had been important. Only the base's absolute top level personnel had been there. But if the Alliance didn't investigate or dragged its feet, who knew what might happen?

The alarm on his bedside timepiece began buzzing and he reached over to shut it off. Because of the drastic changes in organizational structure at Azkul base after Katarina's arrival, Vilnius had recently received a promotion to sergeant… higher than what his rank had been prior to getting busted. He laughed when he recalled how angry TK8275 had gotten when learned that Vilnius was going to be appointed to a rank that in his mind, Vilnius didn't deserve. On that note, he actually may have been right. Vilnius didn't feel he deserved it either, but not for the same reasons as TK8275. That damned loudmouthed lieutenant had only shut up when Katarina reminded him, at the point of her lightsaber, that she was in command and that if she saw fit to promote someone, that was her decision and it was final.

Vilnius rose from his desk chair and started preparing for the evening ahead. As part of his new duties, Vilnius had been selected to be part of the security team covering the Governor's Reception. Unlike the mission on Zeltros, he would be in full stormtrooper armor tonight. He wasn't much for these sorts of things as they were often boring and tedious. But at least it got him out of the Force-forsaken Azkul Base for a while. Vilnius hoped that he would be assigned to one of the roving patrols inside the house or on the estate grounds. Then he could at least alleviate the boredom by walking around. And he looked forward to the promised forty-eight hours shore leave beginning the next morning that had been given to all those who would be on duty tonight.

Vilnius was a little perturbed however, that Elassa had not been selected for duty this evening. So he wouldn't have the benefit of her company to keep him from falling asleep if he got stuck at the guard house or the grand entryway. Oh well. At least he wouldn't be stuck with TK8275 tonight. He'd already been given orders to shadow the Moff at all times.

While he washed his face, Vilnius wondered if he should take the disc with him to the reception. It was very small, so it fit nicely into his utility belt and there was no way it would ever be discovered. But who could he give it to? He assumed that there would be some Rebel sympathizers at the reception, but how was he supposed to know who they were? But maybe while he was there he could get a lead on who the local Rebel sympathizers were. And he had forty-eight hours of shore leave after that. He hoped that would be enough time to deliver the disc to someone who could get it to the Rebels.

_Planet Kestos Minor – The Governor's Mansion_

_That Evening_

Vincent Bralor… food industry magnate, entrepreneur, real estate tycoon, successful investor, confirmed bachelor. All of these things described him. One of the ten wealthiest men in the Kwymar Sector, Vincent Bralor had amassed a fortune in business, property, stocks and credits that rivaled the famed Counts of Serenno. And he'd done it in just a little over ten years, appearing on the covers of several financial publications over the last few years as a result of his success. To the galaxy at large, Vincent Bralor was someone to be watched and admired. Wherever he went, people followed. Whatever he spoke about, people listened. What goods and services he supplied, people bought and enjoyed. Few people in galactic history had ever achieved the kind of financial success that Bralor had in such a short period of time. And yet absolutely no one who followed him or tried to be like him had any suspicion that Vincent Bralor, wealthy entrepreneur, and Dahlgen Luzard, Jedi Knight and fugitive from the Empire, were one and the same.

Dahlgen had created the Vincent Bralor persona more than a decade earlier when he'd begun to build his fortune from the credits he had earned as a smuggler. Borrowing a page from the life and times of the ancient Jedi, Barrison Draay, Dahlgen had gotten started when he'd obtained a bank loan and purchased a poorly-run and poorly managed deep water plant on Kestos Minor that processed aquatic food sources. Within a few months, Dahlgen had the plant running at peak efficiency, distributing food all across the Kwymar Sector and turning a profit for the first time in years.

After a couple of years, Dahlgen had purchased twelve similar deep water plants along with a couple of small fishing companies and turned the whole thing into the largest fishing and processing conglomerate in the Kwymar Sector. Even mindful of the environment though, he personally made sure that his company maintained a standard of harvesting and processing that did far less damage than Imperial doctrine said was permissible. And any damage that was done was quickly cleaned up as best as possible to preserve the natural ecosystem.

But that wasn't enough for Dahlgen. Not long after starting his deep sea food empire, he'd branched out into the meat and produce industries as well. And over the years Dahlgen had acquired more than twenty percent of the farms and ranches across the Kwymar Sector, as well as dozens of processing facilities to handle the vast quantities of food being supplied to the citizens of the sector.

Today Dahlgen sat at the top of Bralor Industries Incorporated which itself owned controlling interests in over two dozen different companies. Among the companies were Captain Carth's Deep Sea Foods, LP; Tokare Farms, LP; Bralor Vineyards; Shan Grocery Supply; Summit Properties which owned all the real estate associated with Bralor Industries and Centennial Transports which owned the various types of transport vehicles and other vessels Bralor Industries used. Bralor Industries had become the largest food conglomerate in the Kwymar and several neighboring sectors. There wasn't a restaurant or grocery store chain the sector that didn't get at least part of its foodstuffs from Bralor Industries. Even the famed Biscuit Baron had recently contracted with Bralor Industries to receive certain foodstuffs at all of its Kwymar Sector locations.

Even that wasn't all though. In the past couple of years, Bralor Industries had secretly acquired stock ownership in 4% of Industrial Automaton, 5.5% of Blastech Inc., 6.2% of Czerka Arms, 10% of Mandal Motors, 3.3% of the Corellian Engineering Corporation and even 2.5% of the Kuat Drive Yards. While these numbers were small compared to other stakeholders around the galaxy, it made Dahlgen just enough of player in the game to watch which way the political winds were blowing in each company, earn credits and funnel a large chunk of the profits along with a sizable amount of foodstuffs to the Rebel Alliance. Dahlgen had to laugh. If that holier-than-thou twit Leia Organa ever found out that Dahlgen Luzard and Vincent Bralor were one and the same, she'd probably mess her pants. More than a year ago, Dahlgen had met Leia in his Vincent Bralor persona at some charity event on Alderaan and she'd quickly developed a crush on him… a crush that he'd mildly rejected. Yet even now, Dahlgen still found it amusing. As Dahlgen, Leia couldn't stand him. As Vincent, Leia's hormones were working overtime.

It was scary at times and even Dahlgen was amazed at how quickly Bralor Industries had grown. And with sudden success came unwanted scrutiny in the form of the Imperial Security Bureau and the Imperial Bureau of Taxation. No doubt the ISB and possibly even Imperial Intelligence had an extensive file on Vincent Bralor and his financial empire. The Imperial Bureau of Taxation was certainly keeping close tabs on whether or not all taxes were paid in a timely fashion; the Empire would nationalize Bralor Industries if he didn't. Thank the Force Gee Tee could keep it all straight. That little droid was worth his weight in gold when it came to keeping the books balanced and the legalities in order. Sure, "Vincent Bralor" had a team of lawyers and accountants to do that, but Dahlgen didn't parade around the galaxy as Vincent Bralor unless it was necessary. And without Gee Tee's daily download of his master's assets and profits for him to review, what had taken Dahlgen more than a decade to build would've disappeared in a matter of weeks.

The ride to the Governor's Mansion was relatively uneventful, though HK had yet to quit complaining about posing as Dahlgen's chauffer. It was a regular task that HK was saddled with whenever Dahlgen was appearing as Vincent and it always brought a certain amount of complaining from the droid. Dahlgen had finally had to tell HK to shut up but that didn't stop a last comment or two. The last one had been, "**Expletive:** Damn it master! I am a combat and assassination droid! Not a cab driver!"

That wasn't the only thing that was aggravating Dahlgen at the moment. The other was Raquel Pherredyne seated to his immediate left. Upon meeting with her and obtaining the extra invitations to the Governor's Reception that he'd requested, Dahlgen had learned that Raquel had taken the opportunity to make one for herself. Dahlgen had not been thrilled by the idea of being forced to take Raquel to the reception, but he hadn't been all that surprised by it either. He had suspected after all, that when Raquel had said the documents were "on the house", that she had ulterior motives for refusing payment. And she hadn't disappointed him, showing up at their prearranged meeting place wearing the white, sequin studded evening gown that currently adorned her body. Oh well, at least Dahlgen wasn't alone with her. Still, she was sitting just a little too close to Dahlgen for his comfort and a lot too close to him for Dawna's comfort.

Dawna barely tolerated Raquel in general and her presence with them now had nearly caused Dawna to fly off the handle. In her mind, professionally Raquel was a great document forger and droid mechanic, but personally she was little more than a cheap floozy; hardly worthy of the attention of someone like Dahlgen. Through their bond, Dahlgen was all too aware of Dawna's discomfort and he'd tried to project feelings of appreciation and thankfulness towards her, but Dawna wasn't having any of that. She resented Raquel's presence and that was the end of it.

He tried gently probing her thoughts in an effort to find out why she resented Raquel's presence so much. That only served to irritate Dawna further as her mental shields slammed into place and nearly gave Dahlgen an excruciating headache.

_Dawna?_ He tried talking to her telepathically.

_What?_ She responded abruptly.

_What's with you?_

_You know perfectly well what's with me!_

Dahlgen rolled his eyes. _What was I supposed to do Dawna? Tell Raquel she couldn't come?_

_That thought did occur to me but obviously not to you._

_Dawna, come on. After all she's done for us, that wouldn't have been fair to her._

_And how is bringing her along fair to me, Dahlgen?_

Dahlgen wrinkled his brow in confusion. _Wha… what?_

Dawna realized she'd said more than she had intended to. _Look, I don't want to discuss this anymore. Just leave me alone._

Dahlgen was more confused than ever, but decided that trying to pry further was just going to irritate Dawna more. _Okay, to hell with that_, Dahlgen thought. _No use trying to find out anything else, not while she's in such a bad mood anyway._

Dawna could sense the hurt and uncertainty in him, something she'd never been able to do before, and she immediately regretted how harsh she had been. Almost unconsciously, she reached over and placed a caring hand on his knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. _I'm sorry Dahlgen_, Dawna apologized. _That wasn't fair of me. It's just that, that…_

_What?_

_No, it's nothing._

Dahlgen smirked brazenly. _You know you're awfully cute when you get riled up like that._ He went one better by taking a moment to appreciate how she looked in her black, strapless evening gown that exposed her midriff. _And cute isn't quite the word I'd use to describe you wearing that dress._

_What word would you use?_

_Hot_, Dahlgen replied.

Because of her red skin, it was often difficult to tell when Dawna was blushing, yet now Dahlgen could see it all too well. _Dahlgen, stop,_ she said as she turned away from him. _You're embarrassing me._

Dawna closed her eyes to rest them for a moment and almost immediately she was consumed by her dream. Why? What was it telling her? The smoke, the flames and the pain – what did it all mean? Once again the sounds of raging battle filled her ears and she called out for help. But as with before, the only to escape her lips was a baby's cry. Why?

_Where are you?_ That male voice was calling out to her. _Where are you?_

Dawna's eyes suddenly popped open and she realized she'd dozed off for a few minutes. Thank the Force she wasn't bathed in sweat like she was the last time she'd experienced this dream. That would've been embarrassing in the extreme, especially considering how close they were to Governor's Mansion now. Still, her pulse was racing and she focused on getting it back under control.

The instant Dawna woke up, Dahlgen sensed her distress and immediately turned to her. "You okay?"

Dawna didn't want to burden him with what was bothering her, especially since she really didn't know why it was bothering her in the first place. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Concerned, Dahlgen placed his hand affectionately on hers. "Are you sure? You don't seem okay."

"No really, I'm fine," Dawna insisted as she took a deep breath. She turned to Dahlgen and smiled. "Thank you for your concern though."

Dahlgen smiled in return. "Always Dawna." He then took a brief second to assess himself in one of the limo's mirrors. Katya's skill with makeup and coloring never ceased to amaze him. According to his official ID, Vincent Bralor was ten years older than Dahlgen truly was. His hair was just starting to gray at the sides of his head and his face was a little more weather beaten that Dahlgen's true features. He also sported a full beard and mustache and typically wore his hair tied back behind his head. He silently thanked Katya for her experience as a dancer and make-up artist prior to his freeing her from slavery. Without her, the Vincent Bralor persona would be impossible to maintain.

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his walking stick. Made from the wryoshr wood from the forests of Kashyyyk and ornately decorated with jewels and precious metals, Vincent Bralor was never seen without it and many fashion magazines were beginning to tout it as being the latest style in men's accessories. The stick had become a source of media curiosity as the native wookiees rarely allowed wroshyr wood to be exported from Kashyyyk, let alone by turned into some "useless trinket". Dahlgen really didn't care what the fashionistas were saying or what the press was guessing. The stick served a more practical purpose; first it was solid enough to be a formidable weapon in its own right, and second, it secretly housed Dahlgen's spare lightsaber, the blue single bladed weapon he'd crafted as a child and fought through the entire Clone Wars with. So far, he'd never had to expose the walking stick's secret but only a fool believed that anything lasted forever.

As HK maneuvered the speeder down the drive leading to the Governor's Mansion, Dahlgen keyed his wrist comlink. "You guys there?"

Dannix's surly voice came back. "Right here and waiting boss. Your signal's coming in fine."

"Stand by, we're almost to the gate," Dahlgen alerted his Mandalorian friend.

"Right, standin' by." Dannix's voice contained more than the usual amount of sarcasm.

Seated across from Dawna, Dijas laughed. "You think he's still upset at being forced to sit this one out?"

Dahlgen nodded. "I would bet on it. I would also bet that Marsala and Cronus have sealed the bulkheads around the ship so they don't have to keep listening to him."

Now it was Katya's turn to laugh. "There's only one thing louder than Dannix's complaining, Forndak and Chenlamabec getting into a snoring match."

Everyone except Raquel rolled their eyes, remembering the last time Forndak and Chenlamabec had been traveling with them. They had gone to sleep in their usual location but forgotten to close the bulkhead doors to engineering bay when they did. The ensuing clamor had resulted in no one else getting any sleep that night.

Raquel looked at Dahlgen and raised her eyebrows. "Dare I ask?"

"No, don't," Dahlgen insisted.

The speeder came to a stop in front of the Governor's Mansion, the massive front face of the three story residence bathed in lights. Viewed as one of the most imposing homes on Kestos Minor, and the Kwymar Sector in general, the home remained an elegant nod to its lengthy history. Unlike the gentle, curving steel structures of the Galactic Core, the Governor's Mansion was made of finely cut and polished white marble and had an angular, classical look to it. Elaborately designed and symmetrical, it was a building that had remained timeless, playing host to wealthy industrialists, dignitaries and galactic level politicians for more than 2,000 years.

As speeder after speeder lined up in front of the mansion, they discharged their occupants and then were directed through a porte cochere to a secluded parking area. More speeders arrived nearly as fast as they departed and the traffic control droid assigned to keep it all straight looked like it was about to have a nervous breakdown. As soon as Dahlgen stepped out of the vehicle, he was hit by a wave of darkness that threatened to overwhelm his senses and he nearly collapsed on the ground. Through their special link, Dawna instantly felt Dahlgen's distress and turned, catching him before he fell. She quickly began to fan his face. "Dahlgen, what is it?" Dawna spoke in a near-frantic, worried tone. "What's wrong? What happened?"

In less than a second everyone else was around him, all of them helping to steady him and asking a plethora of questions trying figure out what had just gone wrong. For several tense seconds, Dahlgen couldn't move, couldn't even speak as he clutched his side in obvious pain. Some distance away, two stormtroopers on security duty witnessed the commotion and began moving in their direction.

Dijas spotted them. "Dahlgen, security's coming. Snap out of it my brother."

Finally, Dahlgen regained control of himself, slowly standing upright to the point where his friends no longer had to support him. His breathing labored, Dahlgen fought to get it back under control and he looked at the faces of his friends, each of them displaying extreme concern and worry. Even HK had gotten out of the speeder to tend to his master.

Before any of them could say anything, the stormtroopers arrived. "Everything okay here?" one of them asked.

"I'm fine. I just lost my footing is all," Dahlgen insisted.

"Are you sure sir?" the other trooper asked. "You do not appear to be well."

"Yes, I'm fine," Dahlgen repeated. "Really."

"Would you like to see a medic sir?" the first trooper asked.

Dahlgen waved his hand in front of the troopers' faces. "I am obviously fine. I just lost my footing. That's all."

The first trooper looked at his comrade. "He's obviously fine. He just lost his footing, that's all."

Dahlgen waved his hand once more. "You'd better return to your post. You don't want the governor to catch you shirking your duty, do you?"

"We'd better get back to our post," the first trooper blankly repeated. "We don't want Moff Hazloc to catch us away from our duties."

As the troopers walked away, Dawna turned to Dahlgen. "Lost your footing my ass Dahlgen. What the hell just happened?"

_How sweet._ Dahlgen couldn't resist playing with Dawna. _You're worried about me._

_Of course I'm worried about you_, Dawna practically screamed through their link. _Why wouldn't I be?_

_Five minutes ago you were telling me to leave you alone._

Before Dawna could react to that, Dijas cleared his throat. "Well? Are you going to answer her or not?"

Dahlgen suddenly remembered that none of the others could banter telepathically like he and Dawna could now. Not even he and Katya could communicate like this. And all eyes were on him. "I don't know."

Katya's face contorted in confusion. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know what it is exactly," Dahlgen said. "But there is something here. I feel it. Whatever it is, it's incredibly foreboding. As if entrance into this house is verboten."

An overwhelming sense of dread formed in the pit of Dawna's stomach. "Dahlgen, you're scaring me."

"Do not be frightened," Dahlgen cautioned. "But be on guard. Because I have a bad feeling that whatever is here will have to be confronted before we leave Kestos Minor. Possibly even before this night is over."

On the second floor of the Governor's Mansion, in one of the house's five bedrooms, Katarina sat quietly assessing her appearance. Not long before Moff Hazloc departed Azkul Base for Kestos Minor, she'd made the decision to attend the reception herself, ostensibly to familiarize herself with the key players in the Kwymar Sector and ferret out any potential Rebel troublemakers among them. In reality though, it was more to keep watch over the Moff himself and ensure he did as he had been ordered.

Katarina was beginning to regret her decision to come to the party. She hated events like this. She felt they were nothing more than a waste of her valuable time. Katarina knew that her time would be better spent either whipping the Project Epsilon team into action or focusing her energies into the study of the dark side and its higher mysteries. But sometimes events like this were necessary and as long as it didn't endlessly drone on, she was willing to put up with the minor inconvenience, at least for a little while.

And as it turned out, it wasn't a total waste of her time. While snooping around Moff Hazloc's private study, she'd discovered an old tome amongst his wide array of books. Most of the similar types of books she had seen in the past were of little or nominal use to her. But upon inspection of the manuscript, Katarina had discovered it was of Sith origin. No telling how old it truly was. A few hundred years perhaps, maybe even a millennia or two. She wasn't sure whether or not the tome would contain anything useful to her or not, but either way she wasn't about to let the discovery go to waste. So she had immediately pilfered the book for in depth study later.

How Moff Hazloc had gotten his hands on such a rare artifact was a mystery to her. He certainly had no idea how to use it and undoubtedly wouldn't understand a single page of it. She allowed herself a smile of satisfaction. Three weeks ago when she first learned she was being assigned to Project Epsilon, she couldn't imagine how her fortunes and standing in the Imperial Court could've gotten any worse. But with this little discovery, perhaps Katarina was premature in her original belief. Her master would be pleased with this little discovery… if she decided to inform him of it that is.

Then she felt it, a tremor in the Force. A very powerful tremor. Slowly Katarina faced the window, her face a mix of concern, anger and intrigue. Quickly turning the lights off, she moved closer to the window and looked down into the front drive.

The Force signature was among the most powerful she had ever felt. No wait, there were two of them. No, there were three. Whoever they were, they were more than just Force sensitive. They'd received training, and from the sensation she'd just felt, a considerable amount of it. And one of them somehow seemed familiar. Had the Emperor sent some of his other minions to watch over her? Were they here just for the reception? Focusing on the arriving crowd of people, Katarina Force scanned each of them for the telltale signs of Force training. Where were they?

When she discovered them, Katarina was nearly knocked to the floor. There they were, a human man and two female companions, a Lethan Twi'lek and a… a Sith woman? Katarina couldn't believe what eyes were telling her, yet there she was. A near pureblood Sith woman! How was it possible? The Sith species died out centuries earlier, or so she had been led to believe. It appeared that they were not as extinct as the galaxy thought.

Examining the group further, Katarina discovered the human male was, without a doubt, the strongest of the group but the pureblood Sith woman wasn't far behind him in terms of power and more than likely, ability. The Twi'lek was considerably weaker than the other two, but she was still much more powerful than most of the Emperor's lackeys and whelps.

A look of surprise that rapidly turned to a smile of glee and anticipation then appeared on Katarina's face as the trio walked under the _porte cochere_ towards the front entry way. She sensed that none of them carried the taint of the dark side. Katarina found that to be shocking in the case of the pureblood Sith woman. No trace of the dark side within a Sith? That was almost beyond belief, considering that the Sith species supposedly survived by having a symbiotic relationship with the dark side. Yet her senses were telling her otherwise. Turning away from the window, her smile rapidly became dark and evil. "How interesting," she spoke quietly.

These people were a viable threat and one that had to be dealt with right away. But not here. No, she would engage them on her terms at a place of her choosing. To blazes with the party. She had to leave and prepare for the confrontation to come.

Soon, the dark side would reign supreme.


End file.
